Ombudsman monitors elections coverage

Late last week, media ombudsman Dr John Nakuta introduced an elections media monitoring tool, which he hopes will assist the Namibian media to report freely, fairly and transparently. He will produce monthly reports to provide feedback.After a validation workshop a few months ago, Nakuta was able to launch the initiative aimed at improving the self-regulation of the Namibian media. “We do not want to police anybody, but we do aim to ensure that reporting during the elections in 2024 and beyond is done in a fair manner,” he said.FES Media - of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation - sponsored the project to the tune of over N$235 000, while the Deutsche Welle Academy and the European Union added another almost N$200 000 as a result of the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Namibia Media Trust having released donation money which had originally been earmarked for them. Meanwhile, between the United Nations Development Programme and Unesco, the project received over N$183 000. While thanking these institutions, Nakuta explained that these donations need to be declared “in the interest of transparency”.FairnessThe media ombudsman, who has contracted independent agency NaMedia, will produce six reports on a monthly basis in which the Namibian media will be analysed in terms of what has been published, which politicians or parties have been covered and how the content has been received by the public.NaMedia’s Natasja Beyleveld explained that she and well-known political analyst Christie Keulder will collect all the reports on a database, where they will be assessed in terms of coverage frequency and tone, media agenda setting and source attribution. The speakers in attendance - which included The Namibian founding editor and journalist Gwen Lister and Editors Forum of Namibia chairperson Frank Steffen - agreed that ‘frequency’ could not be interpreted or applied as the sole measure for ‘fair approach’ regarding reporting, as fairness should be assessed in terms of being proportional to the traditional or historical following of a politician and even the size of a party.

Ombudsman monitors elections coverage

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-29

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Ombudsman monitors elections coverage

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Namibian Sun 2026-01-29

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