WAY FORWARD The way forward 1. What were the developments in the media environment in the last two/three years? Positive developments • The emergence of new media organisations, including the Daily Nation, which was formed in 2011. • The growth in internet and mobile phone usage, which facilitates citizen journalism, thereby creating greater sources of information. • The emergence of blogs as an additional information/news stream. • Greater access to radio stations using mobile phones. • The formation of ZAMEC. • A number of community radio stations that have gone online (e.g. Masumbuka Radio). • The MLC had an agenda to ensure that IBA is operationalised. It is now operational, though the board is yet to be formed. • Unanimity around media laws that need to be reformed. These laws have already been identified, and include a number of laws in the Penal Code. • Government has been revising the media policy from 1996, and making the new policy all-inclusive in view of developments that have taken place. The new policy has been circulated to key stakeholders, but has not yet been made official. • Zambia now has four daily newspapers, with the creation of the Daily Nation. Negative developments • Blocking of the website, Zambian Watchdog. • Clamp down on journalists. • Observance of professional standards in the media is not being upheld, and people are losing faith in mainstream media. • Social media also needs to be questioned as it can be libellous, but it has an important role to play because people have lost faith in mainstream media because they “are not rising to the occasion”. • Impact of the change in the political climate: New government is too sensitive to criticism – less tolerance. Decreased diversity/divergence in the media. Increased self-censorship in the media to “toe the line”, and the lack of self admission among the media that this is happening.+ Journalists are writing stories on online publications and blogs that are very different from the stories that they write for their respective media outlets (where they work for mainstream media houses). This may be an indication that the climate in mainstream media is restrictive for journalists. AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZAMBIA 2013 73