[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
DAM-L Namibian newspaper boycott/LS (fwd)
----- Forwarded message from Lori Pottinger -----
X-UIDL: ,<j"!DSR!!fok!!fY&#!
Return-path: <owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net>
Received: from DaVinci.NetVista.net (mjdomo@mail.netvista.net [206.170.46.10])
by lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id SAA18218
for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>; Tue, 5 Jun 2001 18:32:42 -0400 (EDT)
Received: [(from mjdomo@localhost)
by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) id f55MTOs08744
for irn-safrica-list; Tue, 5 Jun 2001 15:29:24 -0700 (PDT)
(envelope-from owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net)]
Received: [from [192.168.1.99] ([205.178.127.217])
by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) with ESMTP id f55MSvQ08562
for <irn-safrica@netvista.net>; Tue, 5 Jun 2001 15:28:58 -0700 (PDT)
(envelope-from lori@irn.org)]
X-Sender: lori@pop3.netvista.net
Message-ID: <p05010426b7430c2f105f@[192.168.1.99]>
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2001 15:25:31 -0700
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: Lori Pottinger <lori@irn.org>
Subject: Namibian newspaper boycott/LS
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by DaVinci.NetVista.net id f55MSwQ08565
Sender: owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk
[ Charset ISO-8859-1 unsupported, converting... ]
This article on the Gov't ordered boycott of Namibia's "The Namibian"
newspaper includes "What you can do" info. This newspaper has been
uniformly excellent on the issue of the Epupa Dam--perhaps the best
coverage of a large infrastructure project in any mainstream media in
southern Africa.
from Digital Freedom Network
(http://dfn.org/focus/namibia/namibian-boycott.htm)
President orders government boycott of
The Namibian
by the Media Institute of Southern Africa
(May 30, 2001) President Sam Nujoma has
ordered a total ban on the
purchase of The Namibian by the Government
of the Republic of
Namibia.
This directive by the President has been issued hot
on the heels of an earlier Cabinet decision to ban
Government line ministries from advertising in the
newspaper on grounds that it maintained an
"anti-Government stance."
In a State House memorandum, leaked to the
newspaper, the President ordered as follows: "I
hereby instruct with immediate effect from May 31,
2001 the purchase of The Namibian newspaper
with state monies must be ceased forthwith.
Government offices/ministries/agencies who may
have already placed their orders in advance must
ensure that those orders are cancelled immediately."
Secretary to the President, Isaac Kaulinge, confirmed
the authenticity of the statement on Tuesday, May 29, 2001.
The President went on to say "this directive is in support
of an already existing Cabinet
decision that banned all Government advertisements in The Namibian."
The President added that "political office bearers and
senior government officials who
are affected by this directive and who are interested in
reading The Namibian may buy
the newspaper with money from their own pockets and not
with State funds."
The memorandum was addressed to all Government office
bearers from the Prime
Minister to the permanent secretaries and accounting
officers, and was dated May 28.
One member of Government who was approached as to the
reason for the move, said
that it was felt that the ban on Government advertising in
The Namibian, in terms of a
Cabinet decision taken on December 5 last year, and
reiterated in a confidential
memorandum in March 2001, was "inadequate," and that a ban
on bulk purchase of the
newspaper would possibly "teach the newspaper a lesson."
Background
The Namibian government in March 2001 slapped an
advertising boycott on The
Namibian newspaper, claiming the newspaper is too critical
of its policies. The
decision to ban advertising was taken at a Cabinet meeting
on December 5, 2000.
Government departments, however, were in March this year
reminded to heed the
Cabinet decision "with immediate effect."
Government representative Mocks Shivute at the time (March
2001) did not state the
motive for the ban, but the ban appeared to be aimed at
throttling The Namibian
financially. Government is the single biggest advertising
client in the country.
Namibia Fact Sheet
- The advertising ban on The Namibian followed a call from
Swapo Youth League
leader Paulus Kapia in November 2000 for Government to
stop advertising in The
Namibian and for Swapo supporters to stop reading the newspaper.
- The Namibian government has from time to time expressed
its dissatisfaction with
what it perceives as critical reporting in The Namibian.
- Prime Minister Hage Geingob has accused some media
organisations, which he did
not name, of tarnishing the country's image abroad through
their reports.
- Minister of Mines and Energy, Jesaya Nyamu, in February
2001 refused to grant an
interview to The Namibian on the diamond mine in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
This was after he had made the revelation to Die
Republikein 2000, which until 2000
had aligned itself with the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance
(DTA), the party Swapo loves to
remind of its links to the Apartheid regime.
- A similar boycott was instituted against the Windhoek
Advertiser several years ago. At
the time a report in the Windhoek Advertiser had falsely
accused President Sam
Nujoma of being involved in illicit diamond deals. The
newspaper was forced to
apologize. It later collapsed due to a lack of revenue.
Recommended Action
Write to President Sam Nujoma at
State House
Robert Mugabe Avenue
Private Bag 13339
Windhoek, Namibia.
Tel: +264 61 220 010
Fax : +264 61 221 770.
Demand:
1) that the government reviews its decision to boycott
The Namibian newspaper;
2) that the government, as a signatory to the Universal
Declaration of Human rights, stay true to the
principles of that declaration which guarantees everyone
the right to freedom of opinion and
expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.
3) that the government, as a signatory to the African
Charter, heed provisions in the Charter which
upholds media freedom and the free flow of information.
4) and, that Namibia, as the seat of the Windhoek
Declaration, is duty-bound to ensure the
upholding of the lofty objectives contained in the
declaration which, among others, campaigns for
the establishment of an independent, pluralistic and free press.
Article republished with permission by the
Media Institute of Southern Africa, P.O. Box
90715, Klein, Windhoek, Namibia. Phone:
+(264-61) 220458. Fax: +(264-61) 220458.
E-mail: research@misa.org.na. The Herald
contributed to this article.
RELATED MATERIAL
Namibian editor responds to president's
boycott
(May 30, 2001) A statement by editor of
The Namibian newspaper, Gwen
Lister, in response to President Sam
Nujoma's order for a total ban on the
purchase of The Namibian by the
Government of the Republic of
Namibia.
Namibian government refuses to
advertise in independent newspaper
(March 26, 2001) The Namibian
government slapped an advertising
boycott on the Namibian, claiming the
independent newspaper is too critical of
its policies, the paper reported on
March 23.
RELATED SITES
The Namibian
Media Institute
of Southern Africa
Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright ?
1998-2001 Digital Freedom Network.
--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network <'})))>><
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@netvista.net
with no subject and the following text in the body of the message
"unsubscribe irn-safrica".
----- End of forwarded message from Lori Pottinger -----