It is, therefore, critical that all public media outlets endeavour to carry fair content that is representative of the various interests in society as opposed to a particular section as opposed by certain stakeholders. It is for this reason that media associations have been advocating for the true transformation from a “state broadcaster” into “public broadcaster”12 through harmonisation of the ZNBC and IBA Acts to allow for regulation by the IBA, enhancement of the board appointment processes (such as reinstatement of an independent appointments committee) to devolve or reduce the real or perceived influence of the Information Minister who has power to appoint or dissolve boards as well as review of management and funding models to enhance editorial independence. This would also be in line with the 2001 African Charter on Broadcasting13, which creates an obligation for public broadcasters with editorial independence and freedom from interference. Interestingly, it is from the Charter that the initial three-tier broadcasting model (public, commercial and community) is adopted. Another issue worth noting in the quarter under review was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a surge in cases towards the end of the quarter in what was widely considered to be a third wave of the pandemic. The country witnessed a spike in the number of COVID cases and deaths, leading to reintroduction of certain restrictive measures by the government. The measures included closure of schools, colleges and universities, restriction of church meetings, restriction of bars, night clubs and other recreation facilities and, other meetings to be suspended until further notice, among several other measures14. A graphical representation of the COVID-19 trajectory15 The restrictions and resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the quarter constrained the work of the media, similar to the occurrence in the previous quarters. This is because media practitioners rely on observation and first hand gathering of information and opinions, usually face to face through news and television interviews, for example, despite other innovative means such as virtual hosting. The restrictions of the pandemic meant that media practitioners could not easily interact with their sources through press briefings, for instance, thereby limiting their ability to bring office bearers to account. Further, the media were at high risk as they are front liners in their effort to ensure the public is kept informed even on the COVID19 pandemic itself. This is particularly difficult as 12 See a survey titled “Public broadcasting in Africa:Zambia”conducted by the Africa Monitoring and Advocacy Project and Open Society Institute Media Program. 13 Available at https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/african_charter.pdf 14 This was announced in a national address by Secretary to the Cabinet, Dr Simon Miti on 16th June, 2021. 15 Sourced from the COVID-19 Data Repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. See the data repository at https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19 8 State of the Media in Zambia