Media ownership impacts on diversity

WHILE Namibia appears to have a fairly diverse media landscape regarding print, radio and electronic media, it is nevertheless dominated by ‘a few influential owners’ who tended to be the most dominating, trendsetting and important players in the industry, a new media study revealed.

One such powerful owner is the business arm of the ruling Swapo party, Kalahari Holdings, which has a majority stake in the private station Radio Energy, the television subscription management company MultiChoice Namibia, the Internet service provider Mweb and the printing press NamPrint, according to the findings. The study was commissioned by the Namibian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) and conducted by Martin Buch Larsen of Denmark for a post-graduate degree.Larsen gave a presentation of his findings to local media houses at the end of last month.Democratic Media Holdings (DMH) on the other hand owned two daily newspapers, a printing press and recently acquired a private radio station.The Namibian government itself owned and controlled the national broadcaster NBC, a news agency, the magazine Namibia Review, a daily paper and a weekly, which is co-owned by the Zimbabwean government.The latest development saw South African media giant Media 24 buy a 50 per cent stake in DMH.”What future impact that is going to have on the media in the country remains to be seen,” he noted.”In addition, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism is in a joint ownership with Venture Publications, which publishes Flamingo magazine (for Air Namibia), Travel News Namibia, Hunt in Namibia, Conservation magazine as well as the annual publication Namibia Holiday and Travel,” said Larsen.He also detected ‘cross-ownerships’ like Paul van Schalkwyk, the husband of Rieth van Schalkwyk who runs Venture Publications.Paul van Schalkwyk has a stake in Venture Publications and One Africa TV, Namibia’s first independent television station.”The Namibian government also has multiple ownership in the telecommunications industry through Namibia Post & Telecommunications – its subsidiary Telecom running an Internet provider, Iway.The state further has the majority stake in the cellular phone provider MTC and in the second cellular licence holder, Cell One, through the state-owned enterprise NamPower,” Larson outlined.Larsen said the domination of the media industry by a few powerful players (including Government) could “negatively impact on the independence and diversity of various media sectors.”The absence of a media self-regulating body should be addressed soon and outdated legislation revamped and brought in line with modern, regional and international policies.The existing information policy of the Namibian government dates from 1992 and is 15 years old.The study was commissioned by the Namibian chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) and conducted by Martin Buch Larsen of Denmark for a post-graduate degree.Larsen gave a presentation of his findings to local media houses at the end of last month.Democratic Media Holdings (DMH) on the other hand owned two daily newspapers, a printing press and recently acquired a private radio station.The Namibian government itself owned and controlled the national broadcaster NBC, a news agency, the magazine Namibia Review, a daily paper and a weekly, which is co-owned by the Zimbabwean government.The latest development saw South African media giant Media 24 buy a 50 per cent stake in DMH.”What future impact that is going to have on the media in the country remains to be seen,” he noted.”In addition, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism is in a joint ownership with Venture Publications, which publishes Flamingo magazine (for Air Namibia), Travel News Namibia, Hunt in Namibia, Conservation magazine as well as the annual publication Namibia Holiday and Travel,” said Larsen.He also detected ‘cross-ownerships’ like Paul van Schalkwyk, the husband of Rieth van Schalkwyk who runs Venture Publications.Paul van Schalkwyk has a stake in Venture Publications and One Africa TV, Namibia’s first independent television station.”The Namibian government also has multiple ownership in the telecommunications industry through Namibia Post & Telecommunications – its subsidiary Telecom running an Internet provider, Iway.The state further has the majority stake in the cellular phone provider MTC and in the second cellular licence holder, Cell One, through the state-owned enterprise NamPower,” Larson outlined.Larsen said the domination of the media industry by a few powerful players (including Government) could “negatively impact on the independence and diversity of various media sectors.”The absence of a media self-regulating body should be addressed soon and outdated legislation revamped and brought in line with modern, regional and international policies.The existing information policy of the Namibian government dates from 1992 and is 15 years old.