SECTOR 4 At the moment, the Media Ombudsman falls under the EFN, and some journalists feel they are not included. The Ombudsman has urged journalists to set up their own association and to take joint ownership of the self-regulatory mechanism. Panellists from civil society felt they now have a place to take their complaints about the media. “Now we have this, we will create awareness, and civil society will get on to the journalists. They (journalists) must watch out once communities become aware (of the Media Ombudsman), because they have a lot of issues with the media they want addressed. Journalists will have to improve their standards.” The code of ethics covers both public and private media – print and broadcasting. The post of the Media Ombudsman is a part-time position. Initially the Media Ombudsman served voluntarily, but he is now paid an allowance. The EFN has decided to fund the administration in order to preserve the Media Ombudsman’s independence from outside funders. The media code of ethics does not cover advertising, and there is no mechanism for dealing with complaints about advertising. Some panellists took issue with a sexist advertisement that was published in the mainstream press. The advert caused an uproar, but there was no one the public could complain to. It was suggested that members of the public could recommend changes to the EFN, who could then amend the code of ethics to include complaints on advertising content. Most media houses also have their own in-house editorial policies. 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: 3.4 (2005: 2.3; 2007: 2.0; 2009: 1.9) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2011 55