SECTOR 4 4.5 Journalists and media houses have integrity and are not corrupt. Levels of integrity and/or corruption in media houses vary from one journalist to another and from one media house to the next. “It depends on who you ask and which media.” A panellist from civil society noted that “As people who interact with the media, we find ourselves in situations where if we provide transport and lunch, then you see your story in the paper. But if you haven’t provided such, then it’s a problem. It’s difficult to tell if they are holding you ransom, or if they genuinely don’t have those facilities.” An example provided was that of an MP who took a journalist to their constituency several times to cover developments there, but each time, the story was not published. It appeared the journalist was attempting to solicit a bribe without outrightly asking for it. “These institutional weaknesses compromise integrity and lead to corruption.” The Post has a very clear policy that contacts should be made through the editor, as a means of preventing journalists from creating relationships with their sources that may compromise objectivity and integrity. A journalist was suspended for leaving the paper and arranging to travel out of town with a source, without seeking permission from the editor. The Post feels that “these should be authorised by those in a higher position, in order to mitigate journalists being compromised in the line of duty.” There have been articles on newspaper journalists who had taken bribes and were taken to the ACC, but these journalists returned to their institutions. Panellists wondered if media houses were really taking this issue seriously given the occurrence of such scenarios. News sources sometimes do not know that the writing of an article should not come at a cost. A panellist recounted an incident where a news source was ready to pay for an article, and had done so in the past with another “unethical” journalist. In this case, the journalist told the source that articles were not to be paid for. It has become “very tricky and difficult for media houses to have integrity and avoid corruption” as there is the problem wherein “news stories walk to the newsroom” and get published, but their relation to the public interest is questionable. With regards to integrity, there has been a trend whereby journalists fight for certain sources “because they keep them well”. It was felt that this amounted to AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2013 65