The mandate of the public broadcaster ZNBC continues to be flouted unabated, where the broadcaster remains a government tool, with content blatantly skewed in support of the ruling party. Additionally, the ZNBC operates in the absence of both a broadcasting charter and a code of ethics. Its continual operation without a board also makes it prone to political interference as the Minister of Information remains with absolute powers. Additionally, the state broadcaster does not offer diverse programming for all interests on radio or TV, as politicisation of news and information is the norm. However, radio offers marginally more diverse programming than television. Human interest news and information are generally scarce as party politics tend to dominate media content. The staffing statistics, particularly top management positions in most media houses, both public and private show that it is a male dominated environment and this is subsequently also reflected in the content where men are more covered and quoted than their female counterparts. The conduct of the media itself is also tantamount to self-destructiveness. The polarisation of the media is getting worse, with the private media being highly opposed to the government whilst the State media blatantly supports the ruling party. Due to the pre-election climate in the country the media delve too much on party politics at the expense of other issues of national interest, thereby further enhancing the polarisation. Furthermore, there are apparent hostilities between the private and public media over self-regulation, thereby hampering the opportunity to forge useful alliances and find common ground. Lobbying and campaigning for media freedom remains disjointed as there is no coordination between the media and civil society organisations. Moreover, media lobby groups generally tend to isolate themselves from the rest of civil society. Journalists’ poor remuneration and other working conditions (amid poverty in the country), particularly in the private media make them susceptible to corruption, bribery and other unprofessional misconducts. Whilst State media journalists can belong to the three representative bodies available, there is absence of a representative body for journalists in the private media. The various media associations like the Press Association of Zambia, Zambia Union of Journalists and others are very weak and therefore inadequate to serve the interests of journalists. The absence of a self-regulatory media council remains a huge gap. There have however been positive developments in the media in Zambia. The increased dialogues between the media and the government and the rejection of the Constitutional Bill of Rights, offer an opportunity for fresh prospects of beneficial overhaul. ZNBC TV reaches 65 of the 72 districts in the country, whilst ZNBC radio reaches all the 72 districts. This is a marked increase from 2009. Additionally, the number of television stations has grown from 2009’s seven to the current nine whilst radio stations have grown from 37 two years ago to 40 currently. Moreover, the use of the English language predominantly, in a country where 1/5 of the population cannot read and write, let alone understand the 6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2011