Namibia’s press freedom drop explained
Seychelles claims top African spot
Seychelles achieving a higher score than Namibia says nothing about media freedom in Namibia, but rather says a lot about media freedom in Seychelles, Survey Warehouse researcher Christie Keulder said.
Namibia has found herself overtaken by Seychelles, who clinched the top spot as the continent’s freest press. While experts are confident in Namibia’s attitude towards the media, the country’s indecisiveness on its Access to Information Bill remains its biggest challenge.
This according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which pointed out that while Namibia’s press freedom is enshrined as a basic freedom in the constitution, the legal framework could be improved by a law on access to information, which has been promised for a long time. Another concern is that provisions on the protection of sources are currently also incomplete.
Commendable
Political commentator Graham Hopwood said Seychelles shot up the rankings because of a liberalisation of the political situation in that country, which has created a more open atmosphere there.
This includes the fact that Seychelles has also passed its Access to Information law and according to RSF, the island state has "state-owned media outlets that no longer shy away from criticising the government or from reporting on corruption and nepotism".
“Namibia can be proud that we have risen by six places to 18th in the rankings while other African countries have slid down the index like Botswana and Ghana. However, there are still issues that Namibia needs to work on such as passing and operationalising an Access to Information law, transforming the NBC from a state broadcaster into a public service broadcaster, effectively responding to the economic crisis in the media caused by digitalisation, and improving the quality and professionalism of journalism overall,” Hopwood said.
He added that Namibia is generally going in the right direction in terms of media freedom and said if it can operationalise the Access to Information system within the next 12 months, it may see itself rising higher on the rankings.
Not worse off
Survey Warehouse researcher Christie Keulder said Seychelles achieving a higher score than Namibia says nothing about media freedom in Namibia, but it rather says a lot about media freedom in Seychelles.
“The problem with ranked data is that if you lose a spot, everyone thinks you are worse off, which in this is certainly not the case here.
“So, I’d say well done to Namibia for improving, and congratulations to Seychelles for improving to number one in Africa,” he said.
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This according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which pointed out that while Namibia’s press freedom is enshrined as a basic freedom in the constitution, the legal framework could be improved by a law on access to information, which has been promised for a long time. Another concern is that provisions on the protection of sources are currently also incomplete.
Commendable
Political commentator Graham Hopwood said Seychelles shot up the rankings because of a liberalisation of the political situation in that country, which has created a more open atmosphere there.
This includes the fact that Seychelles has also passed its Access to Information law and according to RSF, the island state has "state-owned media outlets that no longer shy away from criticising the government or from reporting on corruption and nepotism".
“Namibia can be proud that we have risen by six places to 18th in the rankings while other African countries have slid down the index like Botswana and Ghana. However, there are still issues that Namibia needs to work on such as passing and operationalising an Access to Information law, transforming the NBC from a state broadcaster into a public service broadcaster, effectively responding to the economic crisis in the media caused by digitalisation, and improving the quality and professionalism of journalism overall,” Hopwood said.
He added that Namibia is generally going in the right direction in terms of media freedom and said if it can operationalise the Access to Information system within the next 12 months, it may see itself rising higher on the rankings.
Not worse off
Survey Warehouse researcher Christie Keulder said Seychelles achieving a higher score than Namibia says nothing about media freedom in Namibia, but it rather says a lot about media freedom in Seychelles.
“The problem with ranked data is that if you lose a spot, everyone thinks you are worse off, which in this is certainly not the case here.
“So, I’d say well done to Namibia for improving, and congratulations to Seychelles for improving to number one in Africa,” he said.
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