SECTOR 3 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: 2.3 (2005: 1.9; 2007: 1.6; 2009: 1.2; 2011: 2.5) 3.5 The editorial independence of the state/public broadcaster from political influence is guaranteed by law and practised to ensure balanced and fair news and current affairs programmes. While the NBC has an editorial policy and a programme policy developed in the 1990s, there is no legislation guaranteeing editorial independence. It was revealed that “there used to be an editorship with a straight line to the Minister” and there were certain people at the political desk of the NBC that other journalists feared for ‘snitching’. Hence, if a journalist was perceived as being too critical in their coverage, a panellist went on to say “the next day you cannot go to State House or are off the plane of the President”. There have, however, been significant positive changes in recent years. The NBC has started covering more opposition party events during election periods, for instance, or events such events as the launch of a book that was critical of former President Hifikepunye Pohamba. Nonetheless, most panellists felt that the NBC still tried to keep the peace with the powers-that-be by omitting reports about contentious topics. This can also influence the contextualisation of certain issues. The news might, for example, report on the SWAPO Party’s agenda on the one hand, and show the opposition party bickering and complaining on the other hand, thereby discrediting the credibility of the opposition. Critical current affairs programmes such as ‘The Week that Was’ and ‘Open File’ were taken off the air leading up to the most recent elections. 48 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2015