Namibia
has appeared to reflect the Republican voice.
Owned by a trust, The Namibian’s trustees appear to have little say
in the content or production of the newspaper. It is worth noting,
however, that since the newspaper became a co-shareholder with
Trustco in Free Press Printers, Trustco-related stories have received
front-page priority a number of times.
It was mentioned that Insight appears to be run fairly democratically, even to the point that individual journalists do not receive
credit for their stories but remain anonymous.
Community media are not seen to be as impartial as they should be,
with UNAM Radio having to reflect the University of Namibia (UNAM)
in a positive light, and Katutura Community Radio (KCR) operating
as a mouthpiece for non-governmental organisations rather than
truly reflecting community issues.
SCORES:
Individual scores:

2, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 4, 2, 2

Average score:

2.9

4.8

(2005 = 3.0)

Salary levels and general working conditions for journalists
and other media practitioners are adequate to discourage
corruption.

ANALYSIS:
Generally, Namibian journalists working in private media are earning good, industry-related salaries compared to many neighbouring
countries, with senior journalists getting about N$14 000 a month.
Informanté managed to poach a number of good journalists from
other newspapers by increasing their salaries – some now earn up to
48

African Media Barometer - Namibia 2007

Select target paragraph3