media. For the 2012/2013 financial year state-owned media cost the taxpayer N$134 million. And then there is the ever beleaguered and technically bankrupt NamZim Papers, a joint venture between New Era and Zimpapers of Zimbabwe, which published weekly regional newspaper The Southern Times. MISA Namibia does not support government enforcing its agenda on media, whether state-owned or not; and we reiterate our call for the NBC to be transformed into a public broadcaster. It is only when media are free from external interference and pressure, whether governmental or commercial, that we can truly live up to our mandate to be objective and balanced. As in 2011, the media landscape continued to undergo a transformation in relation to ownership. The Democratic Media Trust of Namibia sold Desert Trade Investments, a company which held 50% shares in Democratic Media Holdings (DMH), to Stimulus Investments. South African media conglomerate, Media24, maintained its 50% shareholding in DMH. DMH currently publishes the Afrikaans daily Die Republikein, German daily Allgemeine Zeitung, and English daily Namibian Sun. It also owns Newsprint Namibia, which prints all Namibian newspapers and commercial publications. The editorial slant of DMH media outlets does not appear to have been affected by Stimulus’ entry as a major media stakeholder, but there have been changes at senior editorial staff level. Most notably, the appointment of Toivo Endjebela, who became the first black editor within the DMH group. Community media, in particular community radio, continues to face serious challenges, with the lack of good governance as one of the main contributing factors. There is a great need for community ownership, participation and control, while the lack financial sustainability remains an obstacle towards institutional sustainability. There seems to be a lack of understanding, or indifference, among Namibian stakeholders about the importance of community media in the furtherance of democracy, poverty reduction and literacy. But, with the support of Deutsche Welle (DW.DE), Unesco and Fesmedia, there are a number of capacity building initiatives, which should positively contribute to the sector. 6R7KLVLV'HPRFUDF\"