Namibia A media council failed to take off in the mid-1990s, while the position of a media ombudsman, created in 2002 to monitor adherence to the code of conduct, became defunct a few months later due to a lack of public response. In future, the sustainability of the media council should be addressed first. There was consensus that a media council is important to protect the professional integrity of the media, and that an advocacy campaign around the formation of both the media council and the code of conduct needs to be undertaken. SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 4, 3, 1, 3 Average score: 2.0 4.2 (2005 = 2.3) The standard of reporting follows the basic principles of accuracy and fairness. ANALYSIS: The media’s reporting appeared to be accurate and fair, despite some instances to the contrary. It was noted that court reports in the daily newspapers are especially accurate because they are written by “senior and very skilled journalists”. Regular corrections in the daily newspapers are indicative of the media attempting to be accurate, while journalists also make it clear when they have not been able to get comment. “The media is regularly castigated for not being balanced and fair and having a hidden agenda, but this might possibly be a result 42 African Media Barometer - Namibia 2007