STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA A major occurrence that affected the state of the media was the break down in relations between government and Prime Television which led to a blacklisting of the Station and an eventual cancellation of the Station’s broadcasting license by the Independent Broadcasting Authority under suspicious circumstances. Additionally, a legal victory was recorded when the Lundazi Magistrate Court handed a two-year custodial sentence to Frank Mwale, a PF cadre who attacked a Breeze FM journalist, Grace Lungu and her driver during the Mkomba Ward by election last year. This helped to send a message to would be perpetrators of political violence against journalists. The first quarter experienced fewer violations and was thus more progressive when compared to the second quarter which had more damaging developments on the socio-political and legal environment. On the economic front, a bleak turn-out of events and negative progression of macroeconomic fundamentals (partly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic) posed a threat to the sustainability of media houses. This was noted in the increased cost of doing business and reduction in advertising revenue (due to reduced economic activities and a reported decline in output and new orders because of a drop in consumer spending). Regarding performance of the Kwacha against major convertible currencies, the scenario remained the same in both quarters with similar trends of foreign exchange volatility experienced. This is of concern because most media inputs are imported at great cost and such fluctuations also contribute to the increase in cost of doing business for media houses. Further, electricity load shedding continued in both quarters, leading to power outages an average of twelve (12) hours daily. This really hampered media operations provided that most equipment used in the broadcasting industry runs continuously and the use of alternative sources such as generators is an added cost. Others running print presses, for example, were also affected by such outages. pg. 8