MISA STATE OF THE MEDIA REPORT LAUNCH

On February 28^th 2020 the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) invited to a conference in the Southern Sun Hotel in Lusaka to present its report on the State of the Media in Zambia in the fourth quarter of 2019. The State of the Media in Zambia is a quarterly report on the events touching the environment under which the media operated during the period under review. The report is a summary on the conditions under which the media has operated, a reflection on the main national issues that arose under the reviewed period and on the way, these have been portrayed in the media. The review includes findings about media fraternity, the level of activity and the monitoring of broadcast media such as radio and television.

During the conference, different statements were given by representatives of the media branch, representatives of the Ministry of Information, media analysts as well as from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, disusing the main findings in the last period of 2019. The remarks were focused on core issues such as social media regulations, the Access to Information Bill (ATI), the Expansion of the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation (ZBNC) to all provinces and the Termination of the Board of Directors at the ZNBC, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the Times of Zambia (TOZ).

Amongst the most important occurrences were developments in the process of the digital migration programme. As part of the transformational agenda of the Ministry of Transport and Communications the installation of a new broadcasting studio in the North-Western Province. Further, discussions about the Access to Information Bill (ATI) were leading the agenda. There has been a debate on the enactment of the ATI since 2002. So far, the debate as gone up to the Cabinet and its content has been updated several times. However, it has not been approved by Parliament yet.  In addition, information about the restructuring of Times Link Printpak Limited by the IndustrialDevelopment Corporation (IDC) has dominated the last quarter under review.