African Media Barometer 2026: Media Freedom Rights Exist – But Are They Working?

The newly released African Media Barometer (AMB) Namibia 2026 highlights both the strengths and challenges of Namibia's media landscape, finding a growing gap between constitutional guarantees and their practical implementation.

While Namibia continues to benefit from strong constitutional protections for freedom of expression, an open internet, and an active civil society, the country's overall AMB score declined from 3.1 in 2022 to 2.7 out of 5.0 in 2026. According to the report, this does not reflect a collapse of media freedom, but rather the accumulation of structural pressures affecting the media ecosystem.

One of the report's most significant findings is that citizens now appear to exercise freedom of expression with greater confidence than professional journalists. The report attributes this to increasing economic pressures on media houses, concentrated media ownership, and legal and institutional shortcomings that can discourage investigative reporting.

Among the key concerns identified are:

• The Access to Information Act (2022) remains largely inoperative more than three years after its adoption because the Information Commissioner has not yet been appointed.
• Criminal defamation remains available under common law, creating a chilling effect on investigative journalism.
• Journalists continue to operate without statutory protection for confidential sources.
• Namibia still lacks an operational data protection authority, while digital rights remain insufficiently protected.
• Concerns persist regarding media ownership concentration and the lack of transparency in the allocation of state advertising.
• Community and indigenous-language media remain financially vulnerable, while economic pressures increasingly contribute to self-censorship.

At the same time, the report acknowledges important achievements, including Namibia's enforceable constitutional protection of freedom of expression, the absence of internet shutdowns, the lack of systematic state violence against journalists, and the role of civil society in securing access-to-information legislation.

For civil society organisations, the findings underscore the importance of continued advocacy for transparency, access to information, media freedom, digital rights, and accountable governance.

The AMB Namibia 2026 was produced by the NMT Media Foundation in partnership with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and DW Akademie following a national assessment process held in Windhoek in February 2026.

Access the report and related resources:

• Full Report: https://shorturl.at/0gpOn
• Two-Page Infographic Summary: https://shorturl.at/4g6g9