SECTOR 2

Those women that are interviewed and covered are mainly women in high profile
positions, excluding the vast majority of the female population.
Though there is coverage of women’s issues it is mainly “from a male perspective.”
“The dominant voice in the media is the voice of men.” In contrast, both the
Zambia Daily Mail and the Times of Zambia have women’s sections.
One panellist remarked that “it is quite amazing how many female anchors we
have” in Zambia.

Scores:
Individual scores:
1

Country does not meet indicator

2

Country meets only a few aspects of indicator

3

Country meets some aspects of indicator

4

Country meets most aspects of indicator

5

Country meets all aspects of the indicator

Average score:

3.2 (2013:2.3; 2011:1.8; 2009:2.3;
2007:n/a; 2005:n/a)

2.8 All media fairly represent the voices of society and
its minorities in its ethnic, linguistic, religious diversity.
Regarding the staffing of individual media houses, usually, all ethnic and religious
groups are represented. Some print media, as well as radio stations, cover district
news. Several radio stations report on information they have received from
community radios based in a district.
The Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS)11 has a majority of regional
offices which are based in rural parts of Zambia. Yet, most news covers the Lusaka
elites and there is minimal coverage of issues concerning the rural population
despite the mentioned examples.
Regarding religion, Christian faith-based groups receive more coverage than
smaller minority religions. An example was given where the staff of a radio station
were pressurised to play songs on air from an album released by a Christian
church.

11 ZANIS is a public relations wing of government under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services.

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2017

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Select target paragraph3