SECTOR 3 Some panellists recalled an incident in which Lazarus Jacobs, on a Monday, backtracked from a statement he had made on the preceding Thursday so that it would not contradict the Minister, who had made a statement on the same topic on the preceding Friday. On the other hand, a few panel members felt that despite its setup “CRAN has come a long way” and the Board seems to have acted independently during the time under review. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 1.6 (2005: n/a; 2007: n/a; 2009: 1.2; 2011: 1.4) 3.3 The body, which regulates broadcasting services and licences, does so in the public interest and ensures fairness and a diversity of views broadly representing society at large. “...there are forces other than public interest that might influence licensing.” From the CEO downwards, the regulator “runs a professional operation”, was the general view. There are complaints procedures in place and CRAN also advertises public hearings. Unfortunately, the language of the adverts is usually very technical and the outcomes of such hearings are not made readily available. The Polytechnic of Namibia has repeatedly been refused a licence for its campus radio for lack of spectrum. While there were no other cases known in which licences were refused for illegitimate reasons many panellists felt that “there are forces other than public interest that might influence licensing”. 46 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2015