Researcher and Survey Warehouse consultant Cristie Keulder has emphasised the need for balanced, fair, and unbiased reporting in the run-up to the elections to ensure that voters, regardless of whom they support, are equally well informed. 

A media monitoring report is a document that analyses how a company, campaign, topic, or event is covered in various media platforms. And just a week before the Presidential and National Assembly Elections in Namibia, a discussion on media monitoring took place at the House of Democracy.

The discussion focused on the tracking of media coverage of Namibia's 2024 elections, from news headlines to social media hashtags.

Keulder stressed the importance of political party coverage and its influence on the democratic process.

"There's a lot that we don't cover, but that's just to let you know. We are also interested in looking at the way the formal media portrays elections, and that's an important mandate to see whether the media is impartial, balanced, and fair in its coverage."

He shared findings from the project aimed at promoting responsible journalism and protecting the public's right to information.

Keulder emphasised the need for fair coverage.

There has been a decline in media coverage of political parties between June and July, as well as between September and October 2024.

He explained that there is a reliance on editorial decisions to guide media coverage but believes most media have made sound editorial choices; the issue lies in the struggle to obtain sufficient content for reporting.