The Science of Sustainability at a Campus Radio Station in Namibia - A Case Study in the Development of African Campus Media in Challenging Circumstances

Abstract

Campus media—student radio, newspapers, online platforms, and hybrid community outlets based on university campuses—play an increasingly important role in African higher education systems. They function simultaneously as training laboratories for emerging media workers, as key communication tools for universities, and as community-serving media institutions that often fill gaps left by under-resourced local news ecosystems. However, campus media in Africa face persistent challenges, including unstable funding, leadership constraints, high presenter turnover, outdated equipment, and pressures on editorial independence. Using a qualitative thematic analysis centred on in-depth interviews with several management staff and one long-term volunteers, the campus radio station of the Namibia University of Science and Technology, this paper examines three overarching dimensions of campus media in the African context: teaching, management, and sustainability. The analysis is supported by secondary scholarly literature on community media, African higher education, media development, and journalism training.Findings show that campus radio stations such as NUST FM operate under hybrid mandates: providing hands-on training to student journalists, reflecting the voices and needs of university communities, and contributing to national information ecosystems. At the same time, stations encounter structural challenges that mirror wider issues in African media: resource scarcity, political/administrative pressure, infrastructural deficits, competition with commercial media, and regulatory complexity. The paper calls for rethinking campus media governance models, strengthening partnerships with journalism departments and industry, ensuring editorial independence, and establishing diversified revenue strategies for long-term sustainability.