The incidences and evidence gathered and presented in this report therefore, represents a worrying trend of the recent political environment in which the media has been operating. It represents an agonisingly intimidating environment within which some of the private and independent media are having to operate. Observers and press freedom activists alike have continually registered great concern at the happenings in the quarter as they do not bode well for the continued growth and flourishing of the media sector in the country. These actions ultimately take away from the achievements recorded thus far in the promotion of a free, plural and diverse media landscape vital for a young and fledgling democracy such as Zambia’s. The extreme levels of political intolerance in this quarter have been at an all-time unacceptably high. Most of those interviewed expressed apprehension that the political environment was deteriorating rather than improving. Unfortunately, a lack of political will to implement the necessary reforms to improve the situation means it could get worse before or if it ever will have to get better in the near future. In the meantime, the struggle for media freedom continues. The struggle is real as evidence shows from the period under review. In the same quarter, MISA Zambia launched the 2nd quarter State of the Media report for 2016 which showed glaring trends of continued journalists’ harassment mostly by political party cadres and continued government interference in the operations of the media. Further, the report observed that the holdups to enjoyment of freedom of expression continue to be present in the form of several existing auxiliary laws that take away from the full enjoyment of the provisions of freedom of expression, on which broader media freedom depends. Among these laws that still pose this challenge include the penal code provisions of the prohibited publications (Sec 53), Defamation of the President (Sec. 69), seditious practices (Sec. 60), Obscenity (Sec. 177) as well as other wider provisions such as the State Security Act (Cap. 111) as well as the Public Order Act (Cap. 113). Further the report highlighted the high levels of political polarisation that was being exhibited by the media as a concern, especially in light of the nation headed towards the general elections on August 11, 2016. This was more of a concern especially for the public media which were expected to be above board by virtue of being public institutions which are funded by public finances and are therefore supposed to accord equal and fair coverage to a cross section of society. An appropriate description of the legal-political environment was perhaps summed up by one respondent, “There was break down in the rule of law and justice did not prevail as in many instances because of political interference by the ruling party” 18