SECTOR 1 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: 2.5 (2005: 2.1; 2007: 1.8; 2009: 3.3) 1.8 Public information is easily guaranteed by law, to all citizens. accessible, There is no law guaranteeing access to information. On the contrary, the 1982 Protection of Information Act restricts civil servants from giving out information. Journalists’ experience of accessing information varies from institution to institution, but as a whole, “officials answer only the questions they want to answer”. Generally it is difficult to get information from public institutions. “Anything that people feel is a bit sensitive, they don’t release. Sometimes they refuse small things that you don’t understand. It depends on the information you are asking for, and the person from who you are asking it.” Often, procedures for requesting information are a deterrent. For example, when a panellist approached the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare for copies of a book it had published, “We were asked to write a letter explaining why we wanted the information, and this put us off.” Similarly, panellists spoke of instances when the NBC withheld controversial video footage, even though the organisation making the request was prepared to pay for the material. “You give information to the NBC when they interview you. But then you ask for a copy of the tape and they don’t get back to you and eventually you give up.” 20 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2011