Peter Denk needs no introduction in the media industry in general and broadcasting in particular.
But one thing most might not know is that he is an ardent fisherman, who spends his free time along the coastline, fishing. However, in this piece, we go down memory lane to walk through Denk's immaculate broadcasting journey. He is the head of news and current affairs at public broadcaster NBC, an institution that celebrated 35 years of existence last week.
Denk grew up in the national broadcaster, with radio being his first love.
The journey
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Born on 21 April 1972 in Rehoboth, Denk has three siblings, a sister and two brothers.
Denk is married to Christel Denk, and the couple have three children, two daughters and a son. He attended his primary school in Kalkrand at the AA Denk Memorial School.
He returned to Rehoboth at the Dr Lemmer High School to complete his school career.
Now 54 and in the twilight, yet zenith of a distinguished career, Denk's association with the then-South West African Broadcasting Corporation started when he applied for a bursary to study a diploma in journalism at the Cape University of Technology (formerly Peninsula Technikon) in 1989 when he was 16 years old. He got accepted to study in South Africa with the late David Brian Tjazuko and Christa Oases. The news guru remembered when they travelled to Namibia on 19 March 1990 with the buses organised by the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) to celebrate the country's independence on 21 March 1990. "Every holiday, I worked at NBC and completed my internship at the broadcaster in June 1992," he said.
After the completion of his studies in South Africa, he started working at NBC as a cadet reporter at radio news input in 1992.
"Since then, I never looked back. I continued working uninterrupted at the broadcaster up until now. My career and the growth of NBC can literally be likened. I grew up with the national broadcaster," he proudly said. Denk said his journey has been amazing at NBC since he started, adding that he is grateful, as he has had the privilege to travel to several countries. The veteran journalist was also part of a pool of four reporters who were assigned by the former controller of news, Vitura Kavari, to cover news outside the border.
Among his first assignments was covering Founding President Sam Nujoma at the Commonwealth Heads of State and Government summit in Auckland, New Zealand.
Denk recalled that, at that summit, Nigeria, which was under the leadership of late president Sani Abacha, was suspended over the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa.
When he interviewed Nujoma, he remembers the strong emphasis he placed on the relationship between Namibia and Nigeria, saying Nigeria was a friendly country. Another highlight of Denk's career was when he covered the Kasikili dispute between Namibia and Botswana at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, the Netherlands.
"I stayed for a month in the Hague, covering the oral hearings, presided over by 11 judges of the ICJ. I provided daily news reports for radio and television," he said.
He vividly remembers that Namibia was led by the then-permanent secretary of justice and erstwhile cabinet minister Albert Kawana.
Kawana, Denk recalls, presented convincing arguments.
"I guess a few others felt that the ICJ would rule in favour of Namibia. However, Botswana, who used a German legal team with exaggerated wigs, focused their arguments on the technical side of the matter, arguing that the border is determined in the middle of the river. Nevertheless, the ICJ ruled in favour of Botswana," he stated.
35 years later
On the 35th anniversary of the NBC, Denk said it is an honour and a privilege for the broadcaster to have gone this far.
"We are celebrating our achievements and challenges but focusing on the positive because there are more positives. In our celebration, we recognise the honour and pay tribute to all our people connected to the NBC," he said. He mentioned "the ministers; board members, former and present; director generals; and most importantly, our staff, the engine room of the corporation".
These men and women, Denk said, went beyond the call of duty, working irregular hours to serve the Namibian public to the best of their ability.
The news head emphasised that NBC continues to evolve as the media space develops and the broadcaster is required to be on par with development by constantly training its staff.
"When we started here, it was not easy, as we used ordinary typewriters to write our stories. Our news editor by that time, Mark Verbaan, would take your copy, correct it with a red pen and return it to you to make corrections," he said. "It was a great way of training staff in terms of accuracy, courtesy of news editor Verbaan, who was a creative writer," he remarked.
"We did not have the technology available today, yet we still met our deadlines, especially for radio and television. We also had to adapt to a changing media landscape. As young reporters, we did not always grasp all the complexities, but it was still a fascinating period, marked by visits from several prominent figures to Namibia," he recalled.
The scribe also remembers when Queen Elizabeth II and NBC were at the centre of coverage.
"We used microwave links to broadcast, although more stable than current IP technology. It was more than an effort to set it up," he said.
Reflection
During elections, Denk recalled that reporters and camera persons used all and any means possible or necessary to send tapes to Windhoek after covering rallies from remote areas.
These, he said, were challenging times but also exciting, as they used Air Namibia to fly tapes.
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There were teams ready to receive tapes at Eros Airport to meet deadlines. Nevertheless, Denk acknowledged that NBC has shown remarkable growth over the past 35 years of its existence.
He added that such growth will continue alongside rapid changes in technology. "Our challenge is to continue to keep up with the fast-changing developments by continuously and consistently training our staff. We will rise and rise until lambs become lions (a quote from the movie Braveheart), which means we will never give up," he concluded.
Advice
The veteran would not go without extending advice to the next crop and current journalists.
It is Denk's fervent view that technology and media convergence are to be embraced.
"Let's remain authentic in the execution of our craft. Let's remain accurate, balanced and fair. We must embrace technology, but we must not allow it to use us or replace us," he said. Another challenge facing the media industry, he hastened to say, is the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).
"Let's use AI, but the human element must be front and centre. The industry is under threat. We must adhere to the basic ethos of journalism to distinguish ourselves from those who are not journalists. That is fairness, balance, objectivity and seeking the truth. We don't do our work for likes and clickbait. It is service for the public and the Namibian nation," Denk asserted.
