The Namibian

The Namibian is a daily newspaper in Namibia. The editors have their headquarters in the capital Windhoek. The newspaper has a circulation of 32,500 copies, the largest daily newspaper in Namibia. The basic direction of the newspaper is considered to be the left and is very critical, especially against the current political government.

The slogan is " Still telling it like it is! " ( German: Narrated still the way it is ).

After more than 25 years chief editor Gwen Lister has delivered the items to Tangeni Amupadhi in March 2011.

History

Until the independence of Namibia in 1990

The Namibian was founded in 1985 by Gwen Lister and Hannes Smith after the Windhoek Observer, in which both had worked, was banned in 1984 by the Media Commission in Pretoria. He first appeared as a weekly newspaper, which was funded by donations. The primary goals of the newspaper were the emancipation of Namibia against South Africa, the uncovering of injustice by the apartheid government, and the reporting of independence movements in other African countries.

The Namibian was at this time as the left, the African independence movements and the SWAPO newspaper close, the latter being disputed by the editor in chief Lister today. The name was both provocation and program, but a state of Namibia was ( to be built of only 5 years later) the unlawful manager, South Africa, denied the right to exist. White businessmen boycotted the sheet.

Since 1990

1990 Namibia became independent. Lister coined since the new role of the Namibian as an observer and critic of the government, especially now with an absolute majority ruling SWAPO party. This resulted after several verbal threats against their newspaper in 2001 to a display boycott by the government, which was expanded a year later by a prohibition to buy editions of the Namibian public funds. Both bans are still in effect today, despite its role as the largest circulation Namibian newspaper.

In 2001, the 15th anniversary of the newspaper UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised the newspaper as an important factor for the freedom of the press and the political Stablilisierung of Namibia.

Since 2008, The Namibian government again harsh criticism is exposed, which relates mainly to a seemingly daily SMS comment page. In Namibia, the postal system is slow and patchy, the mobile phone sector, however well developed. This can send text messages electronically, than write letters considerably more readers. The SMS reader page contains therefore, also because of the inherent anonymity of such messages, broader and more significant criticism as the letter to the editor section, and the largest share of criticism directed at the government and the ruling by absolute majority SWAPO, which is currently (2009 ) a prohibition this SMS sides discussed.