STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA journalists, it was impossible to physically collect stories from different areas/towns/communities for fear of being mistaken as one of the gassers. Other than that, there was no protection whatsoever from the state/police as they were too afraid of being victims of mob justice. Another issue that is worth consideration in review of the first quarter of the year is the move by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) to restrict the issuance of statements and appearance on media programmes by ambassadors and high commissioners, except with prior clearance. This came against the backdrop of a litany of statements from press secretaries from Zambian missions. In a letter written by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information Mr Amos Malupenga on 7th January, Heads of the Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia, ZNBC and ZANIS were restricted from using any statement from Zambian missions abroad without prior clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the move was meant to ensure “proper organisation, coordination and consistency in dissemination of information to the public”19. While the motive of this action is acceptable, the act of directing public media institutions on what should and should not be covered leaves much to be desired. This amounts to structural censorship and could have a chilling effect on the performance of these institutions20. Such directives could be undertaken internally within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while media institutions should be allowed the editorial independence and autonomy to operate and make their own judgement as long as it is within their established editorial policy. It is for this reason that civil society institutions like MISA have been advocating for independence of public institutions as well as independent appointment of heads of public media boards and management to avoid scenarios in which the government is seen to have undue influence on their 19 https://diggers.news/local/2020/01/13/no-zambian-envoy-is-banned-from-issuing-statements-theyve-justbeen-guided-on-procedure-malupenga/ 20 Manchishi (2017) pg. 21