Namibia
John Nakuta, a well-respected human
rights lawyer and academic, as the new
Media Ombudsman. Nakuta took over
from Clement Daniels who had been
appointed in 2009. Media Complaints
and Media Appeals committees consisting of a diverse group of professionals to
support the work of the Media Ombudsman’s office were also established.

Social media had become the preferred
source of news for
many, which resulted in
a decrease in newspaper sales. Print was trying to find ways to gain
revenue from their online
versions, but this was
still in its infancy stages
and it is not yet known
if this would succeed in
enhancing their financial
sustainability.
Through the formation of a strategic
partnership with the Namibia Media
Trust (NMT), the EFN launched a revised Code of Ethics and Conduct for

Namibian print, broadcast and online
media. The revised code was launched
by President Hage Geingob at a belated
celebration of World Press Freedom Day
in Namibia on 10 May 2017.
NMT Executive Chairperson Gwen Lister said the Code held the potential of
breaking ground in Africa in terms of
forming the basis of a unique form of
co-regulation of the fourth estate, which
had the legal backing of the law. Dani
Booysen, the Secretary General of the
EFN, added that the purpose of revamping the Code of Ethics was to reinforce
effective complaint procedures and
penalties, accentuate the protection of
whistle-blowers and to address ethical
considerations across print, broadcast
and online media categories.
The self-regulatory system is effective
only when the public make use of the
accountability measures in place. This
includes direct communication with
the media house in question or laying a
complaint with the Media Ombudsman.
On the occasion of WPFD 2017 the
NMT issued a statement to say that the
global outlook was depressing, and that
“much more needs to be done to consolidate freedom of the media in many
parts of the world, because without it,
free expression was compromised too”.
The NMT noted that the celebration of
3 May each year as WPFD had come in
response to a call by African journalists
who had gathered in the Namibian capital in 1991 to craft the historic Windhoek Declaration on a Free, Independent and Pluralistic Media.
While Namibia remained first in Africa,
according to the RSF, with an improved
score, it had nevertheless slipped down
in the rankings, from 17th in 2016 to
24th position in 2017.

So This is Democracy? 2017

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