Africa-Press – Namibia. The vacancy comes after the current media ombudsman, John Nakuta’s term officially ended on 30 June.
EFN secretary general Selma Ikela yesterday said shortlisted candidates will be interviewed before a
special meeting on 18 July.
“Due to time constraints, the annual general meeting (AGM) agreed that a special meeting should be held on 18 July at which they would appoint the new media ombudsman and panellists,” she said.
The Office of the Media Ombudsman serves as a mediator in members of the public’s cases against the media.
Nakuta handled over 282 media complaints during his tenure as ombudsman, which lasted seven years and 10 months.
These complaints involved high-profile institutions such as the Presidency and the judiciary.
Candidates were shortlisted at the AGM held on 27 June.
Nakuta’s three-year term was extended once for another three years as per the Code of Ethics and Conduct for the Namibian Print, Broadcast and Online Media.
Thereafter it was extended for a year and 10 months to allow for the successful completion of the groundbreaking Media Monitoring Project of the 2024 Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
Ikela says Nakuta has called for the reimaging of the Office of the Media Ombudsman to serve in constitutional matters such as freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
The office also serves to uphold ethical and professional standards within the media, applicable only to member organisations.
Nakuta has called on the government to fund the media ombudsman to ensure the institution functions independently.
“It is imperative for the EFN and the country as a whole to look at different funding models for this office to run efficiently while it remains autonomous and independent,” he said.
Meanwhile, the current EFN chairperson position held by Frank Steffen is set to become vacant on 18 July.
The roles of EFN secretary general, deputy chairperson, and treasurer will also be vacant.
Nominees for these positions include Sadrag Shihomeka, Hugh Ellis, Andreas Peltzer, Nomfundo Mdevulana and Matthys Lourens.
Shihomeka is a senior lecturer in journalism and media technology at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (Nust).
He holds a bachelor’s degree in education with a focus on economics and business management, a master of business administration and a doctorate in media and communication from Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Hugh Ellis is a lecturer in the master’s programme ‘Media Ethics in the Digital Age’ at Nust and holds over 15 years of experience in the journalism field. Before he joined Nust, Ellis was a reporter at The Namibian and also served as a columnist for Windhoek Observer.
“I’m familiar with many critical issues in the field, including how the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and social media hubs are transforming journalism, with attendant dangers (and indeed, opportunities) for ethical journalism,” he says.
Andreas Peltzer is a Catholic theologian who specialised in social ethics and has been involved in Radio Ecclesia Namibia, Angelus Printing and the Catholic Forum during his time with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Peltzer occasionally writes in the daily print media and flags concerns about witness protection, complaints and ethical reporting.
“There seem to be three main areas of concern for the ombudsman: the mediation of complaints, witness protection, and ethical reporting and AI,” he says.
Nomfundo Mdevulana studied media production at the college of the arts specialising in radio production.
She had a brief stint at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation’s national radio station as a presenter.
“I then ventured into community radio and was primarily involved in volunteering at places such as Childline/Lifeline Namibia,” she says.
Mdevulana is also a teacher and started a company known as Skitty productions that trains children aged nine to 13 about radio recording.
Matthys Lourens lives at Katima Mulilo and works for a transport company at the town.
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