Media Ombudsman John Nakuta has commended the media for its fair and balanced reporting of activities related to the November Presidential and National Assembly elections so far.

Nakuta, however, called for improved representation of women in election coverage. 

The Media Ombudsman was speaking at the third Media Coverage Monitoring report on the national elections covering July to September.

The report monitors fairness and balanced reporting on all political parties and highlights three key obligations of the media.

These are accurate information for the electorate, fair coverage of political parties, and addressing concerns about democracy.

Key findings are that the Swapo Party received the most coverage, followed by PDM; NEFF came in third, while IPC became more visible during August-September. 

Parties such as Swanu, Nudo, and AR received minimal coverage. 

On candidates, Swapo Party's presidential candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah tops, followed by Job Amupanda, who was leading in July and August, and LPM's Bernadus Swartbooi also received coverage. IPC's Panduleni Itula came out in August and September.

Swapo received the most coverage across radio stations with 91 minutes and 44 television minutes.

There was consistency in reporting by the New Era, Namibian Sun, and The Namibian. 

PDM came in second in newspaper coverage, while NEFF received mostly negative coverage due to its deregistration and re-registration. 

Swanu, Nudo, and AR also struggled with negative press because of internal conflicts.

"What we also very much see and clearly is that we really see a great number of electoral coverage throughout various media houses. And you are right, and I agree with Christie that the media seems to be very much doing the nation a very good job in terms of following the campaign rate," said Dr. Nakuta.

Despite the general fairness of election reporting, the report reveals gaps in balanced coverage, though women are not well represented.

"We still unfortunately see very low women's electoral coverage, and that's of concern. I think much more can be done and should be done even by the media in the absence of political parties not driving seemingly women's agendas. I think through deep-dive journalism, women's issues must come out through these elections."

The lead consultant at the Media Ombudsman's office for the election monitoring project, Christie Keulder, says there was no biased reporting.

"A lack of media strategy when it comes to the elections by the parties in terms of themes: everybody covers most parties and most people cover themes, so when we look at that systematic distortion, a systematic attempt to deliberately sell a particular agenda that doesn't seem to be the case, even in the state-owned media."

The Media Ombudsman's monitoring project continues to advocate for a media landscape that upholds democratic values through fair reporting.