New Era, where is Namibia Today today?
By Victor Angula /
The case of New Era managing editor Mr Johnathan Beukes has highlighted once again the reality that you can’t run a government-owned media on capitalist principles.
The wind of change sweeping across (as a result of Namibia’s ballooning debt) has been trying to blow away perennial loss-making public enterprises, and creating a space for those which can transform into self-sustainable businesses.
While Air Namibia was on purpose allowed to go under the hammer, New Era was deliberately made to find a way in which to get a footing (likewise NBC) in a capitalist environment.
For this reason the previous board of directors of New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) brought in a man by the name of Christof Maletsky.
On the recruitment of Mr Maletsky, New Era reported that: “Under Maletsky’s visionary leadership, with the support of the NEPC Board of Directors and the staff, the company is looking at a total transformation with competitive advantage and sustainability at its core”.
A few months later a new board was appointed, a board that had strong belief that it can make the New Era newspaper become an entity running on business principles. And so they made an attempt, by continuing to bring in people with the experience and background of private-newspaper journalism to steer the ship towards self-sustainability.
Towards this goal, in the door also entered Mr Johnathan Beukes.
As Maletsky, Beukes was coming from the same privately-owned newspaper that is run purely on capitalist principles.
And what a combination it was, Maletsky and Beukes running New Era together! Soon enough the change was visible, not only in the editorial look and feel of the newspaper but certainly also on the balance sheet of the newspaper company.
You know how a newspaper’s balance sheet is looking like just by looking at the amount of advertisement placements in such a newspaper. Advert placements in New Era improved a lot during the last year and half.
And the circulation of New Era improved too during this time of Maletsky and Beukes. So that by all standards one can say that this media house has been on track for a speedy recovery, all thanks to the board of New Era chaired by Dr John Sifani.
But now the cat is among the pigeons at New Era. Politicians and bureaucrats of the state are out against the New Era of Maletsky and Beukes.
And so Beukes is thrown out, with his future at New Era hanging in the balance. While Maletsky has turned around, saving his neck by allowing himself to be used to find an excuse for chucking Beukes out.
In the Namibian Sun of 26 October 2023, Maletsky is reported to have presented a damning report to the board, in which he is accusing Beukes of all sorts of ‘wrongdoing’, most of which wouldn’t have happened without Maletsky himself being involved.
Apparently the ‘wrongdoings’ have to do with Beukes’ attempt at making New Era a newspaper like other newspapers. Maletsky said in the report: “Our front page is now reserved for negative news only. Such negative news is mainly about government and public enterprises, as well as local and regional councils.”
Funny thing is that Maletsky himself is a veteran journalist who grew up professionally in a work environment where negative news was and still is the fodder for successful journalism. He literally was ‘headhunted’ from that negative newsroom! (Everyone can still remember the process through which he was employed by New Era).
Together with Beukes, (as per the wishes of the board which hired them) this ‘negative news’ is what they wanted to bring at Daniel Tjongarero House (New Era premises). But now that things have backfired, Maletsky has turned against his colleague.
By the look of things, Beukes will be paid out so that he can go quietly. And New Era, under Maletsky, will go back to its original state: being a newspaper which preoccupies itself with writing community issues and reporting good stuff on politicians, parastatals and state institutions.
And then in the end ending up where Air Namibia and Namibia Today are, in the dustbin of history.
– Victor Angula is the editor of Omutumwa News Online. He can be reached at victorangula@yahoo.com
