STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA information enabling them to take the necessary precautions as guided by the government, through the Ministry of Health and other agencies. Removal of Prime TV from the Top Star platform will limit the station’s outreach, and therefore limit the extent to which citizens can access and share information on the national COVID-19 response and other national developmental issues. Instead of taking such severe action, and considering that Prime TV management has since apologised to the government, Panos encourages the Top Star management to pursue other amicable ways to address any concerns around Prime TV7 The debacle between the Ministry of Information and Prime Television leaves much to be desired. Firstly, this is because the role of the Ministry of Information as stated in their Mission Statement is to “effectively facilitate the development of the Media Industry in order to enhance the free flow of information and freedom of expression for national development”8. This entails supporting enterprises and creating a conducive environment that can foster growth. The move to cease conducting any business was not only detrimental to Prime TV but the Ministry, as Prime TV had a considerable audience which could have benefited from government information and programmes in line with the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) mantra of leaving no one behind9. Secondly, the act of government “blacklisting” a media house is an indirect form of structural censorship and undue pressure. This move had the potential to affect one critical aspect of press freedom i.e. economic or financial freedom. This is because the act of government blacklisting a media house has ripple effects of business entities withdrawing their dealings with the institution for fear of reprimand by government. This has the net effect of crippling the media house and forcing it to acquiesce to the whims of the State. Moreover, it was unclear as to the extent to which government would cease dealings with the TV station, whether this included services to which the media house was genuinely entitled to from government agencies and so 7 http://www.panos.org.zm/index.php/2020/03/27/panos-calls-for-immediate-reinstatement-prime-tv-onthe-top-star-platform/ 8 See https://www.mibs.gov.zm/?page_id=5221 9 https://www.mndp.gov.zm/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/7NDP.pdf pg. 15