In 1985, in the midst of the Apartheid occupation, an incredibly courageous journalist, Gwen Lister, founded The Namibian, an independent, populist newspaper. It became one of very, very few independent papers to take up the cause of The People after independence. I worked for The Namibian in 1991-1992 as it was making the transition from fighting for national independence to being fiercely independent itself. Gwen stepped down as editor earlier this month, handing over the reins to protege Tangeni Amupadhi and fulfilling a long-term goal of letting the paper survive past her leadership. CNN did a great special on Gwen’s life work:
http://cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2011/10/31/african-voices-gwen-lister-namibian.cnn
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2011/10/31/african-voices-gwen-lister-print.cnn
Congratulations, Gwen, on a brave and amazing career at The Namibian.
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