The Namibian

The Namibian is the largest daily newspaper in Namibia.^[1] It is published in English and Oshiwambo.

History

The newspaper was established in 1985 by Gwen Lister as a weekly newspaper reliant on support of donors, which aimed to promote Namibian independence from South Africa. Its first edition appeared on 30 August of that year with a print run of 10,000.^[2] The Namibian became a daily newspaper on 1 April 1989.^[3]

On the 15th anniversary of its foundation, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan praised the newspaper: "The Namibian worked courageously in difficult and often dangerous conditions. Since then, it has contributed immeasurably to press freedom and nation-building in Namibia. Throughout, it has maintained its integrity and independent stance."^[4]

Relations to government

Prior to Namibian independence

The newspaper exposed human rights violations by South Africa's occupying forces and was thus perceived as overly critical and pro-SWAPO by the South African government. Even the name of the newspaper irritated the South African administration as they preferred the land to be called South-West Africa, whereas Namibia was a notion closely related to the independence movement.^[5]

The newspaper offices were attacked by the Afrikaner Wit Wolwe vigilante group in October 1988. The newspaper's offices were almost burned down.^[6] South Africa's Civil Co-operation Bureau planned to poison editor Lister,^[7] the newspaper was boycotted by the white business community, and "journalists and sympathisers" of The Namibian were denied entry in shops all over the country.^[5]

After independence

However, the critical approach of the newspaper was also disliked by the SWAPO government after Namibian independence in 1990.^[5] This unpopularity of the newspaper within government led to a boycott of the newspaper on 5 December 2000 which was only overturned on 30 August 2011, the newspaper's 26th anniversary. In the more than ten years in between, government offices were not allowed to advertise in the newspaper, and it was forbidden to buy copies of The Namibian with government funds.^[8]

Characteristics

A noteworthy feature of The Namibian are the SMS pages called "What you're saying!". These pages dedicated to "short messages to the editor" allow citizens from all over Namibia to comment on and raise topics, since mobile phones are widespread and cheaper and easier than mail or internet. According to former editor Gwen Lister, The Namibian was the first newspaper to offer such an open forum for discussion via text message, since similar programmes at other media (e.g. in South Africa) only allowed comment on chosen articles.^[5]

The newspaper has offices in Windhoek, Swakopmund, Keetmanshoop and Oshakati.^[5] The current editor of the newspaper is Tangeni Amupadhi. Previously until March 2011, the newspaper was headed by its founder Gwen Lister.^[9] Its circulation in 2010 was 40,000.^[2]

References