Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Banner Left
Banner Right

Swapo still holds a monopoly on NBC

Swapo still holds a monopoly on NBC

THE NBC slightly increased its election coverage of the opposition last week – a move political analysts believe could have been motivated by the presence of international election observers.

Swapo still gets by far the lion’s share with a whopping 70 per cent, but it is down from the previous week’s 83 per cent.The Institute for Public Policy Research’s weekly monitor of TV broadcasting coverage of the elections shows that in the week of November 13 to 19, coverage of the RDP by the national broadcaster improved from eight per cent in the previous week to 12 per cent in the week under review. But opposition parties in general are still receiving minimal coverage.The IPPR also observed that on the Wednesday, November 18, the NBC gave Swapo the same amount of coverage it gave all the opposition parties combined. This could have been coincidental but on that specific day SADC election observers arrived in the country.On that day Swapo rallies got four minutes of coverage, followed by the RDP and Swanu each getting two minutes.Several opposition-related stories featured in other media did not make it onto the NBC news.Among these was a panel discussion on inequality involving most registered parties, a CoD press conference on allegations of vote rigging, a Republican Party rally at Katima Mulilo, a Nudo rally at Opuwo, an RDP press statement on comments made by Swapo Vice President Hage Geingob, a CoD rally at Katima Mulilo, an RDP rally at Ondangwa and an RDP press release on repeat voting.The monitoring has also revealed that it has become harder to distinguish between some Government events and Swapo rallies. There were two events covered on television news in the week under review which appeared to concern the launch of Government projects, but speakers wore Swapo colours and in one instance urged those attending the event to vote for Swapo.The two events were the launch of a new road in the Omusati Region and the launch of the Omuthiya hospital project.One Africa’s coverage of the election dipped to 22 minutes from 30 minutes the previous week. Swapo and the CoD were the only parties to receive dedicated items, although most of the parties were briefly featured in an item on a panel discussion about inequality.

Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!

Latest News