Executive Director in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Audrin Mathe, has urged the media to abandon its proclivity for conflict, fear, drama and vengeance.
Mathe made the remarks during the launch of the Africa Media Barometer (AMB) Namibia Report in the capital on Wednesday.
The AMB is an in-depth and comprehensive description system of national media environments on the African continent based on home-grown criteria derived from African Protocols and Declarations such as the African Commission for Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa (2002), making it a home-grown index.
He stated that there are many stories of people coming together, mutual respect and truth, and that the media and the government are not enemies, but rather that the government needs the media to report on its agenda so that citizens are better informed.
‘The spread of misinformation and disinformation, as well as the resulting erosion of public trust in news sources, undermine accurate and impartial journalism. Profits have taken the place of talent and experience in the newsroom. Low pay has resulted in a demoralised workforce and high turnover. As a result, stories are either single-sourced or anonymously sourced,’’ he explained.
Freya Gruenhagen, Director and Representative for Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Namibia and fesmedia Africa, stated that Namibia is the first country to conduct an AMB using a new set of indicators adopted towards the end of 2021, following the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ adoption of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in 2019.
She added that another reason this is a special AMB is the recent developments in the country’s media and democratic spaces, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, not only on the media but also on the economy and livelihoods.
‘We believe that the AMB has become even more holistic in terms of covering all issues and themes related to media, freedom of expression and access to information. It is only fitting that these indicators were tested in Namibia, given the country’s reputation as one of the trendsetters in terms of press freedom in Africa and the world in general,’ she said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
