State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 poned with no date fixed for the trial. During the year the fledgling community radio movement was boosted by two developments the creation of the Namibia Community Radio Network (NCRN) and the return to air of Katutura Community Radio (KCR). At its founding meeting in February 2003 NCRN vowed to lobby for greater recognition of community radio stations. In October KCR resumed broadcasting after a two-year silence following a staff walkout. The station was revived by a group of NGOs that will contribute to the station’s broadcasting content. As part of its new image, launched in September, the NBC also announced plans to introduce a radio station broadcasting in San languages - marking a step forward for one of Namibia’s most marginalised communities. Namibia’s private terrestrial TV stations experienced problems during 2003. Desert TV spent much of the year off air while it looked for suitable partners. TV Africa was left in limbo when its parent company in South Africa, Africa Media Group, went into liquidation in August. However, One Africa Television was launched in November from the ashes of TV Africa. While vowing to produce local content in the future, its initial programming schedule was dominated by programmes made by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. MISA Namibia’s attempts to install a Media Ombudsman and set up a new code of ethics fell flat, and the organisation was left trying to revitalise the project towards the end of the year. However, the launch of the Namibia Media Awards was largely successful and attracted a range of entries from across the media spectrum. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing MISA Namibia is the task of uniting a still divided media and drawing support from a broad range of journalists. With the Journalists Association of Namibia remaining defunct, it is the only organisation that could achieve this. The Media Awards ceremony in November, which brought together the most diverse group of journalists seen at any media event for several years, raised hopes that the different organisations could find significantly more common ground in 2004. So This Is Democracy? 2003 66 Media Institute of Southern Africa