edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

General Functions I: Political SphereFunctionIs it fulfilled?(Yes/partially/no)To what extent is the function fulfilled/not fulfilled?Information:comprehensive, balanced,objective – and alsoregional news.PartiallyNBC is by far the most dominant media player in Namibia, with the greatestresources and broadest coverage. But, the availability of resourcesdoes not translate into high-quality news and current affairs reporting.Problems: Firstly, lack of training has led to problems with staff; secondly,the public perceives the news agenda of the NBC often as biasedand one-sided, as news is often connected to prominence (governmentinvolvement), rather than actual news value; thirdly, minority languagespeakers from Namibia’s rural areas often do not feel represented by thenews selection.All political parties havethe opportunity to speakin the program and arepresent in interviews,sound bites, etc.NoThere is a clear tendency in NBC’s news and current affairs broadcastingto favor government voices; opposition parties are only representedbefore elections, but in quantity and quality of reporting rather limited;after election campaigns, the main focus of the media is on ruling party(SWAPO) representativesCriticism of politicalactors (government,administration, otherpolitical actors)PartiallyAs local and international analysts have argued, the Namibian politicallandscape currently lacks a culture of political criticism and debate, whichis in part due to the omnipresence of the dominating political partySWAPO, which has run the government since independence. Direct criticismof the government is therefore seldom heard on NBC, and if so, inniche channels such as the minority language channels on NBC radio.Societal criticism (socialactors, individuals, problemsin society)PartiallyProblems in society are captured very superficially, often lacking in-depthresearch that the day-to-day organization of the current NBC set-up doesnot allow time for; thus, corruption scandals or the highlighting of socialproblems is most often left to newspapers such as the daily The Namibianor some weekly newspapers that have staff with an investigative mandate.Moderation of debate/democratic facilitationNoEven though NBC TV does have political talk shows such as “Talk of theNation,” “One on One” or “The Week That Was,” many analysts argue thatcontroversial debates remain excluded from broadcast reality.Social/politicalorientationPartially to NoNBC offers the broadest range of programming of all Namibian media.However, programs that help citizens to develop an understanding ofsocial and political problems and the various solutions that are at handare scarce in NBC programming.Agenda setting/investigative journalismNoNBC in general follows the government’s agenda quite stringently. Agenda-settingin the public sphere is most often to be ascribed to journalistsof daily or weekly newspapers, if at all. Truly investigative research is rarein Namibia. It is often believed to be too expensive with little commercialvalue.90