crack oun Regular Issue: Original Article Ethical Issues Confronting Namibian Hybrid Media Organizations in the Digital Age Itai Zviyita'® and Admire Mare! Abstract Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 128 © 2024 The Author(s) Oe Acti rouse guidelines: sagepub.com/jourals-permissions DOF 10:1177/10776990241240118 hepilfourmalssagepub.com/homelimg $ Sage There is a deep-seated realization that the uptake of digitization in newsrooms has necessitated the need for an ethical reformation. This article examines ethical issues confronting operations of selected Namibian hybrid media organizations. Using the Namibia Media Holdings and The Namibian as case studies, this article argues that the platformization of news work, ever-changing technological landscape, the immediacy of internet, media sustainability concerns, and the changing nature of public interest have reconfigured ethical decision-making in hybrid media organizations in Namibia. It demonstrates that although traditional journalism ethics are still relevant, there are new ethical issues confronting hybrid media organizations. Keywords media ethics, journalism, hybrid media organizations, digitization, Namibia "University of Johannesburg, South Africa Corresponding Author: Itai Zviyta, Department of Communication and Media, University of Johannesburg, Corner Kingsway & University Reads, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa Ena: itazviytaa@grail.com2 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) Translated Abstracts aka aba SS ANSI Cee ol) Mela bs GURY Ge bd I last Gl Gane ala alin lal ys bin gll Lede Yl Calas!) Guam Legal SASSY al La ll ‘Namibia Media Holdings haw posits yt J} jaan Seg LSY) Deal) le pau I) alah ica) Gly Saal all ae 285 y lla Ciba! oS The Namibian » ple! heey Ulshal sla YN yyy Lpaialy yA a JSS aga ULL Ape Yl Saab gb DAT jill gine lee SS Cashel ALI Ay ig LAS yall gall SY cage IY Si LAI CUDA GI Oe bl gle al Lal poll Gccaly aa Mal Rigg) J dali! dey) SLaleial gal Hatta clas Vals iN ingll Gade Yl Ciel dilaaall Dey! LDL RE Fi EAA AE LL ET UR SECS AC Td SA OF I $5. ACERS T ATES MUON K LCE ie Po PH His BS TO TT. AC CLARE OUR F A (SPREE ATER, VORB TERE EG, APE AURAL, HIB ABUT TY SEH fa) RAB SEA) TAME, ASEM SAKE TI AR REE. ERE, IS PERM MEMOIARE, (ULSI Ha HEH Rea SUMeMYY, FM, IARI, Bett, BRIO Résumé ly a une prise de conscience profonde que 'adoption de la numérisation dans les salles de rédaction a rendu nécessaire une réforme éthique. Cet article examine les questions éthiques auxquelles sont confrontées les activités d'une sélection d'organisations médiatiques hybrides namibiennes. En utilisant Namibia Media Holdings et The Namibian comme études de cas, cet article argumente que la plateformisation du travail de presse, I’évolution constante du panorama technologique, limmédiateté de Vinternet, les préoccupations en matiére de durabilité des médias et la nature changeante de l'intérét public ont reconfiguré la prise de décision éthique dans les organisations de médias hybrides en Namibie. Il démontre que bien que éthique traditionnelle du journalisme soit toujours pertinente, les organisations de médias hybrides sont confrontées 4 de nouvelles questions éthiques. Mots clés &thique des médias, journalisme, organisations médiatiques hybrides, digitalisation, NamibieZviyita and Mare 3 A6crpaxt Cywiectayer rny6oKoe ocosHaHHe Toro, YTO BHEAPeHHE UNdposbIX TexHonorMit 8 pemakuin HosocTel npHseno K HeOBXOAMMOCTM STHYeCKO pedopmaunMn. B A@HHOM CTaTse paccmaTpHBatoTcA STHYECKKE NPOGNEMbI, C KOTOPbIMM CTANkMBaLOTCA oraenbiibie rASpHanbie Meqnaoprannsaynn HamnGnn. Ha npumepe Meanaxonqnira Namibia Media Holdings # razets! The Namibian 8 cratse ytsepyxaaercr, TO NaaropmarHsayMa HOBOCTHO! paGOTbI, NOCTOAHHO MeHAIOUHIICA TexHONOTMECKINit hatauadt, oneparwsHocts MHTepHeTa, npoGnemb! meava ycTomMMBocTH MH WaMeHeHMe xapakTepa OGulecTBeHHbIX MHTepecos MsMeHUAK KOHOuTypAyNIO NPMWATHA STHMECKHX PeWeHH 8 rMEpHAHbIX MeAHaopraHnsaynAx HamM6HH. 3To Nokasbisaer, 4TO, XOTA TPaAMUMOHHaA ‘KypHANMcTcKaR STHKa sce ele akTyanbHa, cyuecrayior Hosbie aTHYECKHe NPOBneMbI, C KOTOPBIMM CTaNKHBALOTCA TMOPHAHbIE Menwaoprannsaynn, Kmiovespie cnosa mepna sTHKa, XypHANHCTHKa, THOPHAHEIE MeqNA OpraHMsaynn, undposHsayMA, Hamn6ua Resumen Existe una comprensién profundamente arraigada de que la adopcién de la digitalizacién en salas de redaccién ha requerido una reforma ética. Este articulo ‘examina las cuestiones éticas a las que se enfrentan las operaciones de determinadas organizaciones de medios de comunicacién hibridos de Namibia. Utilizando Namibia Media Holdings y The Namibian como estudios de caso, este articulo sostiene que la plataformizacién del trabajo de noticias, el panorama tecnolégico en constante cambio, la inmediatez de Internet, las preocupaciones sobre la sostenibilidad de los medios y la naturaleza cambiante del interés piblico han reconfigurado la toma de decisiones éticas en organizaciones de medios hibridos en Namibia. Demuestra que, si bien Ia ética del periodismo tradicional sigue siendo relevante, existen nuevas cuestiones éticas que enfrentan las organizaciones de medios hibridos. Palabras clave ética de los medios de comunicacién, periodismo, organizaciones de medios hibridos, digitalizacién, Namibia The advent of digitization, platformization,! and datafication of society, and by exten- sion journalism, has substantially disrupted taken-for-granted professional practices, ethical frameworks, and routinized news-making cultures. In view of these seismic4 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) changes, some scholars (Ess, 2013; Mabweazara & Mare, 2021; Santos & Mare, 2021b; Ward, 2019) argue that digital disruptions have irreparably transformed news production, dissemination, consumption, measurement, and the business models of media organizations. Digital platforms have transformed the “entire news ecosystem by performing several functions from online distribution to hosting, aggregation, and curation of news content” (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD], 2021, p. 6). These digital disruptions have also buffeted various axes of the journalistic institution, authority, and profession in both the global North and South (McIntyre & Sobel Cohen, 2021; Moon, 2021). Ithas been accompanied by the lower- ing of barriers of entry, which has “democratized” the capacity and freedom to publish on the internet and social media platforms. Consequently, professional journalists are now sharing the media space with tweeters, bloggers, podcasters, citizen journalists, and social media influencers and users around the world. In response to these digitiza- tion headwinds, traditional media platforms have reluctantly started to migrate into the digital space Besides reconfiguring online publishing ecosystems, advertising logics, and digital markets, the digitization and platformization of news work has spawned new forms of journalism(s) characterized by interactivity, speed, 24-hour news cycles, and partici patory forms of journalism (Mabweazara & Mare, 2021; Ward, 2019). These pro- cesses have also destabilized ethical frameworks and principles undergirding journalistic work (Couldry et al., 2013; Ess, 2013; Ward, 2019). This means that tradi- tional rules, principles, and guidelines on what journalists should do when faced with ethical dilemmas are now in a state of flux. As Ward (2019) opines, the expansion of journalism into the digital realm has altered the nature of ethical discourse. Professional journalists are no longer the only gatekeepers of ethical discussions. In this article, we ‘use concepts such as media ethics and journalism ethics interchangeably to refer to accepted set of principles, codes of conduct, and guidelines for broadcast, print, and digital media practice (Chari, 2019). These ethics are concerned with the identification of principles appropriate to responsible journalism; the critical application of princi- ples to problems of practice; and the development of a virtuous character so journalists are disposed to follow the principles (Mellado et al., 2023). In the African context, journalism practice and cthies can be conceptualized as a “product of European modemity” (Banda, 2009; Shaw, 2012). This does not mean there were no ethics governing communication in precolonial Africa (Cheruiyot, 2022; Nyamnjoh, 2005; Santos & Mare, 2021a). The genealogical roots of traditional jour- nalism ethies in Africa are intricately linked to the institutionalization of mass media during the colonial era (Ndlela, 2009, p. 58), Because of its colonial heritage, the dominant paradigm of journalism ethics in Africa is located within the structures of ‘Western ontology and epistemology (Banda, 2009). These codified traditional journal- ism ethies such as impartiality, balance of facts, accuracy, truthfulness, pre-publication verification, and conflict of interest tend to privilege “dispassionate media work over a civic orientation” (Banda, 2009). In the last few decades, traditional journalism eth- ies have come under immense criticism from decolonial and critical scholars. They are critiqued for being incomplete and irrelevant in informing journalism practice in aZviyita and Mare 5 culturally diverse continent like Africa. Wasserman and Rao (2008) argue that Western journalism ethics and theories should be revised against the backdrop of indigenous epistemologies and ethical frameworks. Another critique of traditional journalism ethics has emerged from post-modernist scholars. Some of them draw their inspiration from Bauman’s (2002) concept of “liquidity modemity.” Consistent with postmodernist theorization, these scholars argue that the center of traditional journalism can no longer hold itself, things have fallen apart. For instance, Moyo (2015) argues that we are witnessing the rise of per- sonalized ethics and morality without ethical codes. In the same vein, Ward (2019) argues that traditional journalism ethics have been disrupted and decentered in the digital age. In this era, journalists are faced with new ethical dilemmas that can be described as “digital journalism ethics” (Ward, 2018, 2019). These include copyright infringements, manipulation of photography/videos, plagiarism of digital content, invasion of privacy by cyberbullying, online misinformation/disinformation, and clickbait journalism (Deuze & Yeshua, 2001; Mabweazara & Mare, 2021; Ward, 2019). Mabweazara and Mare (2021) assert that the integration of social media plat- forms and artificial intelligence (Al) technologies has also spawned several ethical challenges for journalists operating in converged media organizations. Despite this acknowledgment, there are no empirical studies in Namibia, which have specifically examined how professional journalists working for hybrid or converged media organi- zations are negotiating ethical challenges associated with the digital turn Even though Namibia has a revised code of ethics for media practitioners, which acknowledges the existence of print, broadcast, and online media, it does not provide explicit ethical guidelines and regulations on the operations of hybrid media organiza- tions. In this article, we define hybrid or converged media organizations as entities that combine both analogue and digital business operations (Chadwick, 2017; Papadopoulou & Maniou, 2022). These organizations produce and distribute physical and online media outputs such as newspapers, magazines, videos, audios, and so forth. They tend to employ multi-sided business models too. Hybrid media organizations by their very nature are more prone to dealing with traditional and digital journalism ethical dilem- mas associated with digitization, datafication, and platformization of news work. Yet as pointed catlicr, there are no empirical studies in Namibia on how professional jour- nalists negotiate ethical issues confronting the operations of hybrid media organiza- tions in the digital age. This article can be read as a response to the apt observation of Deuze and Yeshua (2001) that the literature dealing specifically with the ways in which the internet and its ancillary digital technologies affects ethics and moral deci- sion-making in digital journalism is disconcertingly scarce, This is very much pro- nounced in the Africa context, where newstooms are beginning to embrace digital technologies in their everyday news work. Literature Review Most of the literature, which has wrestled with the debate about the relevance and resilience of traditional journalism ethics in the digital age, has emanated from Europe,6 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) North America, Asia (Deuze & Yeshua, 2001; Diaz-Campo & Segado-Boj, 2015; Ess, 2013; Ward, 2019), and some parts of Africa (cf. Banda, 2009; Chari, 2019; Kasoma, 1996; Mano, 2021; Santos & Mare, 2021a; Tomaselli, 2010; Wasserman, 2018, 2021). Three schools of thought have emerged. The first one argues that traditional Western journalism ethics are now moribund and no longer fit for purpose (Nieborg & Poell, 2018; Ward, 2018, 2019). In this school of thought, there are some scholars (Ess, 2013; Ward, 2019) who make a case for ethical reformation on the basis of the changing media context. They focus on the disruptions caused by the digitization, datafication, and platformization of news work (Nieborg & Poell, 2018). In this context, digital disruptions refers to“. .. the radical changes provoked by the affordances of digital technologies that occur at a pace and on a scale that disrupts settled understandings and traditional ways of creating value, interacting, and communicating both socially and professionally” (Franklin & Canter, 2019, n. p.). On the other end of the spectrum are those that make the same call on the basis of the decolonization and decolonial imperative (Banda, 2009; Fourie, 2008; Kasoma, 1996; Nyamnjoh, 2005; Rodny- Gumede & Chasi, 2021; Santos & Mare, 2021a; Tomaselli, 2010; Wasserman & Rao, 2008). The second school of thought postulates that traditional journalism ethics remain relevant and resilient in the digital age (Chari, 2017, 2019; Goran & Karamarko, 2015). Instead of throwing the baby with the bath water, it calls for the incremental tinkering of existing codes of ethics in order to speak to the contextual realities. The third school of thought argues that more can be gained by combining traditional and digital journalism ethics (Couldry, 2010; Maniou, 2022). This hybridization approach to journalism ethics has gained prominence in the last few years. In view of the dive gent schools of thought, Ward (2019) argues that it is necessary to adopt “cosmopoli- tan journalism ethics,” which are informed by local and global value systems While traditional journalism ethics have been lauded for their resilience and adap- tive capacity, there are calls for the revision of codes of ethics in the digital age. Instead of impartial and non-engaged forms of journalism, “new ethical norms, such as norms for participatory journalism—where citizens are part of the news process” (Mabweazara & Mare, 2021; Ward, 2019, p. 4) are being promoted. Traditional journalism ethics have been criticized for failing to provide sufficient guidelines for journalists operat- ing in an inercasingly chaotic, global, hyperlocal, and crowded mediascape. Scholars (Diaz-Campo & Segado-Boj, 2015; Ess, 2013; Ward, 2018, 2019) have made a clarion call for traditional journalism ethics to be revised in the wake of digitized media eco- systems. This call has been necessitated by the assumed ethical tensions that exist between traditional and digital journalism(s), both at local and global levels (Ward, 2019). Traditional journalism ethics with their values of accuracy, prepublication veri- fication, and gatekeeping are seen as going against the culture of digital media, which emphasizes immediate form of journalism and postpublication correction (Ward, 2019), Based on this realization, scholars who subscribe to the first school of thought argue that traditional journalism ethics that have guided the media for ages have lost relevance in this digital age. The assumption here is that ethical values such as truth- fulness, fairness, accuracy, conflict of interest, and honesty, which are the comerstone of professional journalism (Chari, 2019; Couldry, 2013; Goran & Karamarko, 2015),Zviyita and Mare 7 have been disrupted. In this emerging debate, the second school of thought posits that it is a matter of “pouring new wine (new ethical frameworks) into old bottles” (tradi- tional ethical guidelines and frameworks). The idea here is that traditional journalism ethics are still relevant and resilient to inform journalism practice. Taking a more radi- cal approach, Ward (2019) argues that “we need new bottles” (p. 10). The argument is that existing cthical guidelines and frameworks are no longer fit for purpose. Ward (2019) further contends that traditional journalism ethics must be discarded and recon structed afiesh in order to meet the new changes that have occurred in the media space. African scholars (Moyo et al., 2020; Santos & Mare, 2021b; Tomaselli, 2010) influ- enced by decolonization and decolonial ideas have also called for the revision of exist- ing journalism ethics in order to accommodate cultural philosophies and values from the global South. In this regard, scholars have advocated for a wide range of ethical frameworks steeped in African cultures and values. Some have proposed “Afriethics” (Kasoma, 1996), “ubuntu” (Chasi & Rodny-Gumede, 2016; Fourie, 2008), “commu- nitarianism” (Tomaselli, 2010), and “postcolonial normative ethics” (Wasserman & Rao, 2008). Their main argument is that existing ethical frameworks are blind to cul- tural nuances and differences. The dominant model of journalism ethics present them as universal and uncontroversial. Yet, they are predominantly informed by moral phi- losophies and cultures from the global North (Santos & Mare, 2021a). It is within this environment characterized by divided opinion we investigated how professional jour- nalists working for Namibian hybrid media organizations negotiate ethical challenges associated with the digital age. In a bid to account for the contextual factors that shape ethical dilemmas that pro- fessional journalists negotiate in their everyday news-making duties, in this section, we briefly unpack the Namibian media landscape. Compared to her neighbors, Namibia has a crowded but equally competitive media market (Remmert, 2019). Three media organizations dominate the sector in the country: Namibia Media Holdings (NMR), Namibia Media Trust (Free Press Private Limited), and New Era Publications. As far as the media systems typology of Hallin and Mancini (2004) is concerned, Namibia closely approximates the “polarized pluralist” model. The model is charac- terized by the close ties between the media system and the political space, government intervention to the media, and a low level of journalistic professionalism (Hallin & Mancini, 2004). This manifests itself through media ownership by political and eco- nomic elites. Besides these media ownership dynamics, Namibia, in the last 5 years, has constantly topped the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index rankings in Africa. This is attributed to minimum state interference and restrictions on press free- dom. In a sense, the country has achieved greater and constitutionally protected free- dom of the media (Reporters Without Borders, 2021) although some retrogressive Jaws are still part of the statute books (Mare & Mare, 2021). Except for the NMH, The Namibian, and the New Era, some of the media houses in Namibia are crippled by inadequate digital infrastructure to support the setting up of converged newsrooms (Santos & Mare, 2021b). Despite these structural chal- lenges, efforts are under way to digitize and platformize the operations on Namibian media houses. As newsrooms have shifted their journalistic practices away from8 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) dedication to a single, traditional medium toward serving the needs of multiple plat- forms in a convergent environment, there have been concerns about how these changes are likely to threaten news-making cultures and ethical frameworks (Deuze, 2009). Some of the media houses have a strong presence on social media platforms, ‘These newspapers include The Namibian, The Villager, Confidante, and Namibian Sun. Like in other social contexts, the Namibian media landscape has been bedeviled by the dwindling advertising revenue, partly attributed to stiff competition from plat- form companies and changing advertising priorities (Santos & Mare, 2021b). Over and above, the deleterious effects of digitization, and the problem of media sustain- ability in Namibia were also compounded by the economic recession and the COVID- 19 pandemic (Zviyita, 2021). It is unsurprising that between 2016 and 2018, at least 40 news workers were retrenched in Namibia. The reduction of workforce and recruitment of interns has affected the capacity of Namibian newsrooms’ capacity to verify information and produce quality journalism. Newsroom restructuring has also led to the juniorization of newsrooms, thereby contributing to ethical transgressions, For instance, cases of plagiarism and factual inaccuracies have been flagged in the Namibian media context (Zviyita, 2021). These ethical transgressions have been attributed to the lack of a reading culture even among journalists, rushing to be the first to break a story, overreliance on interns, correspondents, and recruitment of untrained journalists as a way of cutting down on operational costs (African Media Barometer, 2018). In light of this contextual background, this article examined how professional journalists working for Namibian hybrid media organizations negotiate ethical challenges associated with the digital age. Conceptual Framework ‘The social responsibility theory (SRT) was developed in 1947 by the Commission on the Freedom of Press (Hutchins Commission). As a normative theory, the SRT was formally coined by Siebert et al. (1956) in their seminal text “Four Theories of the Media.” It foregrounds the idea that individuals (such as journalists) are accountable for fulfilling their civic duties (news-making routines), and their actions must benefit the whole of society (Christians, 2014; Mellado ct al., 2023). From this theoretical framework, professional journalists are expected to cultivate self-regulatory proce- dures of responsibility by embracing journalism standards and codes of conduct in response to the demands from the public (MeQuail et al., 2005). Journalists are expected to uphold professional ethical standards in their quest to produce and deliver truthful and credible information to audiences. In their everyday news-making prac- tices, journalists are expected to strike a balance pursuing public interest and protect- ing the rights of others. The theory lies between both authoritarian theory and libertarian theory because it gives total media freedom to journalists on the one hand but the extemal controls on the other hand (MeQuail et al., 2005). The basic tenet of this theory is that freedom comes with obligations, and the press, which enjoys a privi- leged position under the government, is expected to be a responsible corporate citizen in its performance of civic duties.Zviyita and Mare 9 The SRT has been used in several journalism studies in Africa (cf. Mathe, 2020; Moyo et al., 2020; Muthoni, 2017; Ndlovu, 2015; Onyango, 2013; Wasserman, 2020) For instance, Mathe (2020) deployed this framework to analyze the practice of ethical journalism in the Zimbabwean context. Foregrounding the importance of ethical journalism, Mathe (2020) argues that “social responsibility must be the norm in the face of corruption and economic challenges” (n. p). Writing about Kenya, Muthoni (2017) relied on the social responsibility framework to explore the ethical frame- works used by news bloggers to guide their everyday blogging practices. Although news bloggers are not considered professional journalists, Muthoni (2017) reminds us that the most viable normative ethical framework for these “amateurs” should encompass libertarianism, social responsibility, and democratic participation. It is therefore arguable that the foundational values of objective journalism such as pre~ publication verification, fairness, accuracy, balance, and neutrality cannot be com- promised if the profession is to retain its position in society as the Fourth Estate. Using South Africa as an illustrative case study, Ndlovu (2015) found that privately- owned news organizations are generally financially insecure, which ultimately ham- pers their ability to perform their journalistic social responsibilities. Cognizant of the fact that media organizations do not operate in a social vacuum, this study focuses on how joumalists working in the Namibian media context negotiate ethical social responsibilities associated with the messy and unpredictable digital environment. This is particularly important in the context where trust in media is at an all-time low, ethical lapses are on the rise, and the disinformation crisis has compounded the prob- Jem facing mainstream journalism. The social responsibility framework is instructive for our study, which seeks to explore how professional journalists are navigating the converged media landscape where new layers of responsibilities are being entrusted upon their shoulders. Furthermore, it nudges newsrooms to recognize journalistic responsibilities and to unpack relational accountability that “journalists are expected to adhere to with respect to their professional practice and ethical conduct” (Moyo et al, 2020, p. 4). The plat- formization of selected newsrooms raises questions that revolve around the conflict between the production/dissemination of media content and professional codes of con- duct. These technologies have presented journalists and editors with novel social responsibilities, which require professional ethical decision-making. As a Western construct, journalism is now being practiced in several non-Western contexts where the notion of “public interest” has been critiqued for failing to under- stand what happens in the global South. As part of the decolonization project, this has seen scholars in the global South advocating for the deployment of Ubuntu, Afriethics, and communitarianism, which are more relevant ethical frameworks (Chasi & Rodny- Gumede, 2022; Santos & Mare, 2021a). There is also an acknowledgment that social responsibilities for journalists in the global North cannot be unproblematically trans- planted to the global South without adequate localization and contextualization (Santos & Mare, 2021a). Thus, social responsibilities are context-specific and in a state of flux. While the SRT was coined prior to the advent of digital technologies, it is noteworthy to highlight that journalists have added responsibilities and obligations in thislo Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) ever-changing social milieu. Prior to the digital age, social responsibilities in the hands of journalists were predominantly of an offline dimension. This has significantly changed because journalists are now expected to navigate offline and online social responsibilities. In this converged media context, traditional social responsibilities are no longer enough to meet journalists’ ethical obligations. New layers of responsibili- ties and ethical obligations have emerged requiring contextual sensitivity, flexibility, and situational alertness. Although it was propounded before the digital era, the SR theory is still instructive in this study because it recognizes that despite contextual transformations in the media landscape, “journalists are expected to adhere to their professional practice and ethical conduct” (Moyo et al., 2020, p. 4). This study seeks to answer the following research questions: Research Question 1 (RQI1): What are some of contextual factors influencing ethical decision-making among Namibian journalists in the digital age? Research Question 2 (RQ2): What are the main ethical dilemmas that Namibian journalists are negotiating on a daily basis in the converged newsrooms? Research Question 3 (RQ3): How can these ethical issues be mitigated in the ‘Namibian converged media newsrooms? Methods This article draws on qualitative research methods. These particular methods refers to “.. an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem based on building complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting” (Creswell, 1994, pp. 1-2). In this study, we were interested in examining editors and reporters at the NMH and The Namibian negotiat- ing ethical dilemmas immanent in the digital age. In-depth interviews were held in August and September 2021 via WhatsApp voice notes and face-to-face interviews, respectively. Similarly, focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in September 2021, on Zoom and face-to-face. Case Studies With regards to our case studies, we focused on two highly influential and digitized Namibian newsrooms: the NMH and The Namibian. Founded as Democratic Media Holdings in 1992, NMH is the largest media house in the country. Currently owned by Stimulus Investments, the media conglomerate publishes the following titles: Allgemeine Zeitung, Namibian Sun, and the Republikein. The media house has very strong print and digital footprints. It publishes most of its content regularly on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The Namibian was established in 1985 and dependent largely on donor funding. It quickly positioned itself as an “oppositional press” aimed at dismantling the apartheid government in Namibia. Although it started as a weekly publication, it has since metamorphosed into a daily paper. It publishes in English and a section in Oshiwambo (a dialect spoken by manyZviyita and Mare " Namibians) on Fridays. Similar to the NMH, The Namibian has a fully converged media newsrooms consisting of print, broadcast, and digital offerings. It also owns Desert Radio 95.3, which broadcasts in most parts of the country. Participant Recruitment At the time of writing this article, NMH had a total of 33 journalists and 12 editors, while The Namibian had seven journalists and three editors. Thus, the total target population was 55. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling, which requires that the researchers rely on their own judgment (Sharma, 2017). We also relied on convenience sampling, which entailed interviewing editors and reporters who were available for offline and online meetings. Cognizant of the fact that qualita- tive research is not concemed with generalizability and representativeness of the sam- ple, we focused on data saturation. This refers to the point in a research process where sufficient data have been collected to make necessary conclusions, and any supple mentary data collection will not yield value-added insights (Faulkner & Trotter, 2017). In the end, a sample of 16 journalists (5 from The Namibian and 11 from NMH) were purposively sclected to participate in FGDs. Similarly, five news editors (four from MH and one from The Namibian) were purposively sampled to partake in the in- depth interviews (see Appendix). Knowing very well that the majority of Namibian newstooms are generally dominated by male workers, we tried as much as possible to pay attention to the gender balance of our participants. However, we had a slight gen- der imbalance at NHM where we recruited more female respondents than their male counterparts. This imbalance is partly attributed to the convenience sampling tec! nique used to recruit participants. Data Collection and Analysis Data were collected through a combination of in-depth interviews and FGDs. Most of the imterviewees were conducted at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to protect ourselves and our research participants from the virus, we used a blend of face- to-face in-depth interviews and WhatsApp voice notes. Given its encryption capabili- ties, WhatsApp was deemed the best platform of communication by most of our respondents at both NMH and The Namibian. It afforded us the opportunity to safe- guard their confidentiality. On average, our interviews both offline and online lasted between 30 and 60 minutes. We used a semi-structured interview guide to administer both face-to-face and online interviews via WhatsApp. The respondents were asked to reflect on the ethical dilemmas they had faced operating both offline and online as journalists in the Namibian context, Some of the questions probed journalists to reflect more on the contextual factors that shape and constrain their ethical decision-making ona daily basis. Participants were also asked to suggest solutions on how newsrooms can navigate the converged media context in an ethical manner. All WhatsApp responses {rom our participants were sent as voice messages. In addition to in-depth interviews (with editors), we conducted two FGDs with eight journalists in each group.12 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) FGDs are more useful when finding out the perceptions and attitudes of a defined group of people. In our case, the FGDs were based around a short list of guiding ques- tions, designed to probe for in-depth information on the ethical issues bedeviling Namibian journalism in the digital age. On average, each FGD last for 1 hour. All the sessions were recorded and archived. Data were analyzed using thematic inductive analysis (the manual version), which encompasses systematic procedures such as familiarization with data, generating initial codes, identifying themes, reviewing themes, and naming the themes before the final write-up (Flick, 2020). With this in mind, we took time to familiarize ourselves with the data, code themes, review themes, and label themes and interpret them in line with extant literature, We also ensured all these steps by transcribing data, reading transcriptions, and highlighting the main themes. This was followed by jotting down reflective notes and reading them several times in order to establish the trend of respondents" views that can be traced back using direct excerpts from the transcript. By doing so, it afforded us an additional opportu- nity to enhance accuracy on our respondents’ views, as a requisite for the study’s trustworthiness. Data were then coded using abstractions from the respondents’ com- ments on how they negotiate ethical issues in their news-making practices. In thematic analysis, coding helps to moderate the amount of raw data to that which is pertinent to research questions of the study and breaks it down to manageable categories (Flick, 2018). In this case, coding enabled us to categorize themes based on data. The phase of reviewing themes requires the researcher to “reflect on the process of organizing codes and compare them in terms of similarities and differences to assign a place to each cluster of codes in relation to the research question” (Vaismoradi et al., 2016, p. 105). To achieve this, we used the basic principle of classifying and organizing codes by giving a collective meaning to a group of codes with various features. This was followed by a revision of codes to allow comparison across data which offers potential for generating acceptable themes. In the last stage, data were interpreted and analyzed by marrying findings to the related literature. In line with research ethical consider- ations, we observed all the COVID-19 protocols such as wearing of face masks, observing social distancing, and hand sanitizing. We also ensured informed consent and confidentiality in line with social research ethical guidelines. Findings Contextual Factors Influencing Ethical Issues in Namibian Hybrid Media Organizations ‘The concept contextual factors is used here to denote political, economic, social, tech- nological, legal, and environmental factors that directly and indirectly influence ethi- cal decision-making within converged media organizations. These structural factors shape the ways in which reporters and editors navigate the ethical minefield that has been spawned by converged newsrooms. Consistent with studies in the global North (Deuze & Yeshua, 2001; Ward, 2019), our study found that the ever-changing techno- logical landscape has irreparably disrupted ethical frameworks informing journalismZviyita and Mare B practice in converged newsrooms. Participants pointed out that they are increasingly dealing with unprecedented ethical dilemmas, which were not a big issue prior to the coming in of the digital age. They also highlighted that they are facing ethical dilem- mas, which are not codified in the existing codes of ethics. Some of our participants observed that digital disruptions have exposed them to a wide array of ethical chal- lenges such as how to handle online errors, photoshopping of images, readers’ com- ments online, misinformation/disinformation, user-generated content, cyberbullying, and gendered disinformation campaigns. They further indicated that itis also cumber- some to verify the authenticity of images and social media accounts of news sources online, From the interviews, it was clear that the structural factors constraining profes- sional ethical decision-making within Namibian hybrid media organizations revolved around technological disruptions, media sustainability, and the absence of coherent digital journalism ethical frameworks. We discuss each of these in turn. Technological Disruptions. The advent of digitization in the media landscape has brought about disruptions that are transforming old news-making practices and challenged estab- lished ethical frameworks (Ess, 2013; Moon, 2021; Ward, 2019). Our study found that the internet, mobile phones, computers, social media, editorial software, high-resolution cameras, and audience analytic systems have become part and parcel of the Namibian media practice. For instance, journalists are increasingly using editorial and photoshop- ping software. Concems have been raised with regards to the quality of journalism in the era of cross-media news production (Chari, 2019; Moon, 2021). It has been shown that workload pressures and the complexity of multiplatform practices have the potential to ‘expose journalists to a host of unexpected ethical dilemmas. The context collapse associ- ated with migration into digital spaces has seen the professional and personal lives of journalists becoming blurred. These technological shifts have given rise to a wide range of ethical challenges. While some of these ethical dilemmas are not essentially new, they have been reconfigured and reinforced in the digital age. The coming of the mobile phone has contributed immensely toward news work. It is now possible to gather infor- mation, take photos, and interact with audiences with the same device. In some cases, journalists are relying on user-generated content, which has not been sufficiently fact- checked. This was described as follows by one participant: However, with the integration of social media apps production systems, itis true that we often rely on unverified user-generated content from our reliable resources, and this violates the principle of accuracy and credibility, (female senior journalist, NMH) It is evident from the foregoing that although digital technologies have made it efti- cient and convenient for journalists to produce content, they have also amplified ethi- cal challenges that editors and reporters have to deal with. The speed at which news gathering, processing, and distribution is done in the digital age has also affected tra- ditional ways of prepublication verification (Franklin & Canter, 2019). The Immediacy and Speed of the Internet. Another important contextual issue associ- ated with technological disruptions is the immediacy and speed of the internet. The14 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) immediacy of the internet exerts pressure on journalists and editors to assume short- cuts in their prepublication verification and fact-checking protocols. The issue of how to handle online errors and corrections is disturbed by the immediacy and speed of the internet, In this context, there is subtle pressure on newsrooms to compete with citi- zen-generated content and meet demands for real-time information (Srisaracam, 2019). Inadvertently, these pressures sometimes affect the vital verification process, and mistakes can destroy trust and credibility—the main pillars of quality journalism (Srisaracam, 2019). It is unsurprising that factual errors, plagiarism, and malinforma- tion can arise. Our respondents noted that: Online media reporting provides little time to verify information, especially in the case of a breaking news story trending on social media. Sometimes operating within ethical boundaries costs us timeliness as sometimes we delay publishing an article while waiting for information to be fact-checked and verified (which often takes time). There are times we are tempted to put out unverified news because it is trending on social media and we fear that by the time information is verified, it would have been old news. (male news editor, The Namibian) The pressure that comes with the speed of digital news [production] has put us under pressure to urgently produce content in real time, This sometimes affects the quality and credibility of stories as there is... little time to verify information, However, we strive to ensure that whatever information we publish is indeed factual and verified. (female senior journalist, The Namibian) The dog-eat-dog competition to become first with the breaking news on social media is affecting converged newsrooms in Namibia. As Chari (2019) rightly asserts, when the desire to “serve it hot” gets into the way of news verification, often times, ethical dilemmas arise. Platformization of News Work. Besides the immediacy and speed of the internet, plat- formization of news work is a recent phenomenon in the journalistic field, It refers to the interactions between platforms and creative/knowledge industries (such as pub- lishers), leading to “a complex balance [information and] cultural producers have to maintain on platforms between self-expression, audience interests, advertiser needs, and platform governance . . . deeply affecting the nature of cultural content and the space for creative expression” (Nieborg & Poell, 2018, p. 6). The platformization of news work has also been accompanied by ethical dilemmas on the part of journalists and editors. Newsrooms are increasingly having to deal with the deleterious effects of platformization of cultural production in its various manifestations which has chal- Ienged news workers on many fronts. It is now difficult to tell who is responsible for moderating comments by audiences on social media platforms. Questions like who should be held responsible to keeping hate speech comments on social media pages run by media organizations? Who is responsible for content on social media? Is it the publisher or the platform? Where does the responsibilities of platforms start and end? All these questions elicit profound ethical dilemmas.Zviyita and Mare Is Although the platformization of news work has reconfigured news-making prac- tices mostly in the global North, there is also a realization that it is likely to affect the social responsibility role of journalism in the global South. With the integration of social media platforms into the operations of Namibian hybrid newsrooms, this has meant that journalists and editors are expected to regularly engage with their news sources and audiences. As a result, journalists and editors are exposed to trolling, cyberbullying, gendered disinformation campaigns, and hate speech especially on readers’ comment section, blogs, and social media. Some of our participants had this to say: Our standard operation procedure allows senior journalists to post digital content on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, ete. ... especially teasers for a full report in the print version without going through a chain of sub-editors and chief editors... There is a challenge yes where you find some reporters making silly jokes especially when commenting on certain posts . .. and the next thing they are bullied by audience, they retaliate, (male news editor, NMH) The comment sections on our digital platforms are always packed... and honestly sometimes it’s annoying to attend to that, In terms of gatekeeping, I must say we don’t have a comprehensive policy on that one. We were caught off-guard by the entry of social platforms... (male senior journalist, The Namibian) The adoption of social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in the day-to-day operations of hybrid newsrooms means that journalists and editors are now overdependent on platforms for news production, distribution, and consumption News editors are finding it difficult to implement robust gatekeeping strategies to ‘moderate the voices that speak back to them through the comment section. Audiences” voices on social media platforms “are increasingly shaping and contributing to the dynamics of news-making in ways that point to an emerging ecological reconfigura- tion and recasting of dimensions of news production and consumption” (Mabweazara & Mare, 2021, p. 111). This raises ethical dilemmas around how to deal with user- generated content on social media platforms. Both newsrooms we studied have no social media guidelines on how to handle user-generated content. Media Sustainability. As far as the issue of economic factors that constrain and shape ethical decision-making in newsrooms, it was observed that media sustainability is eur- rently on the top agenda. This chimes with the assertion of Papadopoulou and Maniou (2021) that the journalistic field is undergoing structural changes where old operational and business models have been disrupted. This has been more pronounced since the uptake of digitization, which is accompanied by a “revolution” in the media space not only in terms of news production and dissemination but also in the business model too, The shifts in the business models of media organizations have been worsened by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Santos and Mare (2021b) observed, “the diminishing private advertising revenue has made media organizations to implement16 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) paywalls and subscriptions, monetize virtual events and in some cases become overly dependent on government advertising” (p. 2). In doing so, the core traditional journal- ism ethics such as accuracy, neutrality, and integrity have been sidestepped in order to keep the media house financially stable. The following responses emerged We are in the business of news, and this means we had to commercialize all news platforms from print to digital publications in order to maximize what we want to achieve, (male news editor, NMH) wwe are an independent media outlet and so the only problem comes when it concerns some of our big ads clients. Even though we are trying not to be biased towards our ads clients, they have some influence in the sense that they inject money for our business survival. (female senior journalist, The Namibian) ‘These foregoing quotations demonstrate that the two media houses have different sources of funding. On one hand, The Namibian is heavily reliant on sponsorship and advertisers as their sources of funding. Research has shown that incestuous relationships between newsrooms and advertisers have the potential to lead to cap- ture and cooptation. In other words, it has the potential to influence the ways in which journalists report about their funders and advertisers. This type of commer- cial journalism gives priority to trivial news items along with certain kinds of lay- out, headline sizes, photo enhancements, and flashy colors, irrelevant and lurid photos that attract mass audiences while downplaying information, all in desperate bid to sell (Uzuegbunam & Udeze, 2013). On the other hand, NMH is a commercial enterprise with clear profit-making objectives. Its business model is predicated on advertisers revenue, paywalls, and monetizing virtual events, This overreliance on paywalls has forced news editors to adopt “analytics-driven journalism” (Moyo et al,, 2020). Through its paywall system, the NMH is involved in the indiscrimi- nate collection of personal information. This is happening in a context where the government of Namibia has not yet passed the data-protection framework. Besides ethical issues, this context raises serious legal challenges for Namibian converged newsrooms. The Absence of a Comprehensive Code of Ethics. One of the main contextual imperatives that were raised during our interviews had to do with the lack of a comprehensive code of ethics for journalists working for converged media houses. While most journalists interviewed at both media houses acknowledged that the code of ethics for print, broadcast, and online journalists which was revised in 2017 is not comprehensive enough to deal with ethical issues in the digital age. For instance, the code is silent about issues such as data protection, misinformation/disinformation, online hate speech, cyberbullying, gendered disinformation campaigns, photoshopping of images, clickbait journalism, moderating user-generated content, and so forth. Our participants had this to say:Zviyita and Mare 7 There isn’t any specific guideline given when it comes to multimedia content, A lot of it, ‘we just follow the rules that have been set for traditional media and try to contextualize it for digital. can’t say to you here is the guideline for digital media, such template doesn’t iamibian) exist. (male entry-level journalist, The Right now, in Namibia, for example, the cyber security law is not yet in place, therefore journalists can still take videos of citizen’s intimacy and post, There is no law that stops ‘them from doing that, (male journalist, NMH) As we can observe from the aforementioned quotes, the current code of ethics has a lot of loopholes. ‘This finding corroborates the observation of Diaz-Campo and Segado- Boj (2015) that various codes of ethics in Africa were last updated many years ago, and for that reason, they do not comprehensively address the new realities of the digi- tal age. Although the revised code of conduct for journalists in Namibia talks about when, how, and under what circumstances photographs should be taken, it does not sufficiently demonstrate the haste with which ethical challenges such as manipulation of photography should be handled in hybrid newsrooms. Ethical Dilemmas Negotiated By Namibian Journalists in Converged Newsrooms ‘Our study found that selected newsrooms are confronted with novel ethical issues that were nonexistent before the uptake of digitization. These include handling of online errors and corrections, prying into citizens’ privacy, and plagiarism of digital content, We discuss and analyze these ethical issues in the following part of the article. Handling of Online Errors and Corrections. Handling of online errors and corrections came out to be one of the ethical issues confronting operations of hybrid media orga- nizations in Namibia. The participants observed that because of the fast-paced nature of news production and dissemination in the digital age, there was not enough time to edit and verify copies. The 24-hour news cycle exerted a lot of pressure on journalists such that they are witnessing the flagging of a lot of online errors, Whenever journal- ists and editors are working with the speed of the internet, they are bound to make errors, which can be easily disseminated in real time to widely dispersed audiences. Most interviewees mentioned that the correction of online errors, which entails post- publication verification, was complicated in the digital age. In most cases, when they picked the online errors, the news would have gone viral. Journalists admitted that as human beings (some who are still novices in the field), they often make errors in their multimedia news-making practices as noted in the following excerpt Even if you are the best leamed journalist, you make mistakes like spelling or typing errors and by the moment you realize it, it will be online already. (female journalist, NMH)18 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) The biggest challenge with online for me, the issue of speed, is the impact it has on grammar, spellings, and language in general. You find a lot of errors . .. because some stories do not go through the entire production chain like sub-editors or proof readers like we have the print edition. I can say the gatekeeping process is still the same, but more refined for print publications. (female entry-level journalist, The Namibian) The rush to break news first and outmaneuver competitors also contributes to making credibility-straining errors. Journalists have limited time to make thorough fact- checking before publication. This has been confirmed by one digital news editor who indicated that We have incidents where reporters do not attend to certain events and tend to rely on a third party as a source of information without proper verification, The recent case with ‘the Olympics on those who were running ... one of our reporters on Twitter said the git!’s time runner was 22.02 seconds, while in fact we later found out that it was 22.06 seconds. Those are some of the challenges we are facing. (female journalist, NMH) Similar findings have been flagged by scholars (Chari, 2019; Moyo et al., 2020) who have argued that when journalists work at the immediacy of internet, factual and online errors involving spelling of names, reporting on figures, and terminologies are made, which compromise the credibility of their media houses. Misinformation/Disinformation. Like in other newsrooms across the globe, journalists in Namibia indicated the issue of misinformation/disinformation has become a huge ethi- cal dilemma. This was more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic where health- related misinformation/disinformation was rife. At that time, there was a case of one journalist from NMI] who misinformed the audience on Twitter regarding the correct, name of the vaccine that the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) had ordered. Despite the retraction in the print version of the New Era, the online error was not corrected on their Twitter handle. This was captured by one editor as follows: The online error on Twitter about health minister, Dr Shangula, which initially said he received Sinopharm vaccine instead of AstraZeneca was latter corrected in the print version only because in terms of longevity and for record purpose, you find that most of the corrections and apologies carry more weight in the print version than on the digital paper, (male news editor, NMH) ‘What is evident from the foregoing is that pressure to publish and overreliance on trained journalists in some Namibian newsrooms have contributed toward misinfor- mation/disinformation. Consistent with extant literature (see Zviyita, 2021), inaccu- rate and misleading headlines have also been amplified by the algorithms and filter bubbles associated with commercial-driven journalism on social media platforms, Prying Into Citizens’ Privacy. Reporters and editors working in converged newsrooms also acknowledged that violation of news sources and readers’ privacy is another ethi- cal conundrum that they have to navigate on a daily basis. The ethical issue of pryingZviyita and Mare 9 into citizens’ privacy arises when journalists publish online confidential and personal information of news sources, especially politicians and business people. This also ‘occurs when readers post private photos of certain politicians in order to embarrass them on the comments section and social media handles administered by media houses. Although media houses have the social responsibility to moderate these invited spaces of participation, sometimes the traffic is too much for administrators to handle Some of our respondents revealed that: We have come across such, but we try to apply good judgement in each of these cases by first distinguishing between public interest and privacy prior to reporting such material, (female senior journalist, The Namibian) There is also the question of whether journalists should stil call an individual to give them a right of reply on something controversial they posted online or if what they posted should be put on the news platform without allowing the author to put it into context or perspective. (male assistant news editor, NMH) ‘These are some of the ethical dilemmas that journalists working in a converged media landscape are handling on a regular basis. Some of these have no ethical precedence, and thetefore, journalists struggle to navigate the dilemmas. Using Newsmakers’ Posts on Social Media as News Raw Materials. It was observed that because of the affordances of digital technologies, most news makers are increasing using their own social media platforms to comment, post, and update their followers. However, it was noted that there is no clear-cut boundary between private and public communication on social media. This led to a situation where journalists often use posts made by newsmakers on their social media handles without seeking informed consent. Two of our respondents explained as follows: ‘We have also come across an issue of deciding whether we should publish a comment that someone, especially a public figure, has made on their personal social media account ‘that qualifies as news because some of them view this as an invasion of their privacy. (male senior journalist, The Namibian) We have cases where public figures argue that anything posted on social media in their private capacity should not be published on a news platform and blown out of context. Our position is that if they are public figures and whatever they post on their social media becomes public information as itis already posted on a public platform. If t is private and personal, they must not post it online inthe first place, (male senior journalist, The Namibian) Just like elsewhere in the world, the use of newsmakers’ posts on social media as news raw ‘materials is not unique to Namibian newstooms. The aforementioned evidence finds sup- port in the assertion of Mhiripiri and Chikakano (2018) that in cases where political figures are involved, “information might interest the public but do not carry convincing justifica- tion of public interest” (p. 8). In addition, Zamith et al. (2020) buttress the importance of public-interest journalism within the overarching social responsibility framework.20 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) Plagiarism of Content Online. Even though plagiarism is not a new ethical issue, it was observed that the uptake of multimedia content production and dissemination has heightened this practice in Namibia. While the coming in of the internet, social media, mobile phones, and editorial software has enriched journalism practice, it has also unintentionally made it easier for journalists to copy and paste content online without attribution. Respondents cited cases where they found out that their photos, videos, text, and audios have been plagiarized by other content aggregators online. This prac- tice of cutting and pasting without acknowledging was so rampant that some news- rooms have started using watermarks on photos. The use of water marks is meant to authenticate their images before they are downloaded and used by their competitors. ‘This unfortunate trend was confirmed by two respondents: I remember that one trainee journalist was fired here late last year for plagiarism There was suspicion of plagiarism by one of the sub-editors because her reports were too perfect to be written by a trainee and so we wondered how she mastered this kind of ‘writing, We did our internal research and later found that all that articles that she wrote at NMH were plagiarized. (female senior journalist, NMH) ‘We had someone working with us who lost a job because of online content that she plagiarized. (female senior journalist, NMH) These ethical transgressions are not unique to Namibia. Cases abound across the globe, where professional journalists have been implicated in plagiarism-related cases, For instance, a similar ethical transgression was committed by the then news editor at CNN, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, who published approximately 50 stories containing plagiarized content from Reuters (Wemple, 2014). Interventions to Address Ethical Dilemmas Confronting Hybrid Media Organizations In order to address the teething ethical dilemmas confronting hybrid media organiza- tions in Namibia, some of our respondents suggested a number of policy and practical interventions. These include periodic reviews of the code of conduct for media practi- tioners, regular in-house training and refresher courses, and continuous personal development on the part of journalists. Revision of the Code of Ethics for Media Practitioners. There was consensus among most interviewees that there is a need to update codes of ethics on a regular basis in order to account for the rapid changes in the media landscape. Some of the respondents were of the opinion that the media ombudsperson takes long time before they embark on the revision process. Although the last revision was done in 2019, there are a lot of things that have happened. In light of the aforementioned finding, some of our respondents at The Namibian proposed for the revision of code of ethics:Zviyita and Mare 21 I think relevant authorities must amend the Namibian Code of Ethics for the media and include a section that makes reference to journalists declaring their conflict of interest whenever necessary. (male senior journalist, The Namibian) I want to add on that the Code should be reviewed and revised at least every five years in order to effectively guide the operations of media houses with both print and online editions. (male senior journalist, NMH) 1 think the Namibian Code of Ethics must incorporate the cyber policy and regulations Because right now journalists can still take photos ot videos of citizen's intimacy and post Thete is no specific section that stops them from doing that. (male assistant news editor, NMI) These findings indicate that even though the Namibian code of ethics acknowledges the existence of print, broadcast, and online media, it does not provide explicit regula- tions to inform the operations of hybrid media organizations. There is need for journal- ists’ and editors’ unions to come up with fit-for-purpose codes of ethies for Namibian hybrid newsrooms. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated the digitiza- tion of newsrooms in Namibia. For instance, Santos and Mare (2021a) have recom- mended for the incorporation of Ubuntu, Afriethics, and communitarianism moral philosophies in contemporary codes of ethics in Africa Periodic Ethical and Responsible Journalism Training Workshops. Our intervie mended the holding of periodic ethical and responsible journalism training workshops ‘They observed that journalism is constantly evolving; hence, there is an urgent need to stay on top of the ethical game. This necessitates the holding of regular on-the-job and off-the-job workshops targeting reporters and editors so as to acquaint them with emerg- ing ethical issues in their profession. This finds support in Chari’s (2019) recommenda tion that revised codes of ethics must not be the end but must be complemented with regular training of journalists. Respondents from NMH revealed that their company has ‘a media academy responsible for running short refresher courses. The same ean be said of The Namibian, which has the Namibia Media Trust, which hosts periodic refresher courses for journalists in the country and beyond. Below are some of the comments: recom- ‘Some ethical transgressions arise as a result of being ignorant and I have seen this to be very common with most of our juniors. (male assistant editor, NMH) Crash courses are also very important just to add to this whole thing of moving into a different dimension with the media, (female entry-level journalist, The Namibian) Such training courses have the potential to contribute toward the promotion of ethical and responsible journalism. The ever-changing technological landscape requires reporters and editors to be well-versed with ethical expectations of their profession. This is largely because journalists have a social responsibility to disseminate credible and accurate information in order to remain relevant in society2 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 00(0) Discussion and Conclusion This study examined how professional journalists working for Namibian hybrid media organizations are negotiating ethical challenges associated with the digital age. It draws on the SRT (Siebert et al., 1956), which has provided us with a solid theoretical spring- board to analyze and make evidence-based contributions toward literature on journal- ism ethics in the digital age. This is very important in a context where journalists are increasingly facing novel social responsibilities in what Bauman (2002) calls “liquid modemity.” Both society and journalism are constantly changing in unpredictable ways. Building on the ongoing debate about the relevance and resilience of traditional journalism ethics (Deuze & Yeshua, 2001; Ward, 2019), our study has demonstrated that ethical decision-making in the digital age is shaped by a number of structural fac- tors. These factors impact the ways in which journalists and editors negotiate ethical joumalism in the Namibian context. These include technological disruptions, media sustainability, and the absence of coherent digital journalism ethical frameworks. This dovetails with the assertion of Mutsvairo et al. (2021) that the importance of context and how it shape news-making practices in the global South cannot and should not be ignored. Participants indicated ethical dilemmas they are confronted with, and these are centered around handling of online errors and corrections, misinformation/disinforma- tion, using newsmakers’ posts on social media as news raw materials, violation of pri- vacy rights, and plagiarism. There are also similarities between what is happening elsewhere and in Namibia, For instance, journalists in Namibia like elsewhere are working “in a toxic (and global) public sphere of partisan media content, misinforma- tion, hackers and trolls, extreme populists and far-right journalism” (Moon, 2021; Moyo et al., 2020; Ward, 2019, p. 4). Despite these ethical dilemmas, journalists work- ing for hybrid newsrooms are expected to uphold their social responsibilities as civic agents in society. This entails recognizing their responsibilities to provide fair, bal- anced, objective information on different sides of an issue, which empowers audiences to formulate their own judgments and increases levels of truthfulness in reporting (Chari, 2019), For Mutsvairo ct al. (2021), it can be argued that these common clements of joumalism, while universal, can often be challenged in certain contexts that are affected by technological, political, social, economic, and cultural influences, The study further shows that existing ethical guidelines used by Namibian news- rooms have not been updated to take into account changing social responsibilities in the digital age. This is despite the fact that journalism still depends for its legitimacy on the observance of ethical principles and practices. This means that journalists have a moral obligation to provide trustworthy and relevant news and information as well as opportunities for diverse voices to be heard in the public arena (Siebert et al., 1956). ‘The SRT places emphasis on the moral and social responsibilities of persons who, and institutions which, operate the media. However, as our findings have shown, this is increasingly becoming difficult to achieve in the Namibian context as clickbait jour- nalism, “analytics-driven journalism” (Moyo et al., 2020), and gaming of the algo- rithms take center stage. These findings dovetail with previous studies (Chari, 2019;