STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA 3.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF MEDIA EVENTS DURING THE THIRD QUARTER Cyber security concerns heightened in the third quarter of 2018 with increased records of censorship of what was posted on social media pages and accounts. To a great extent, the debate on cyber space has overshadowed the discussion on the long sort after Access to Information (ATI) bill. The approval of the 30 Ngwee tax by cabinet was another issue that came up following the continued talk on the cyber space. The justification for the proposed tax is that telecommunication companies have been losing revenue as the public have resorted to internet calls instead of traditional calls when the country has a less than 30 percent internet penetration. A few legal cases were highlighted in the third quarter. The media published information that was not accompanied with evidence leading to legal suits. The legal suits involved sources and in some instances media personnel. As such, journalists should publish information accompanied with evidence in cases where publication of such stories may lead to law suits. Further, it is worth noting that journalists' safety wasn‟t guaranteed in the period under review. For example, a photojournalist was detained for capturing images of a ZESCO substation. This was disheartening because the police, as an institution charged with the responsibility of protecting journalists are key perpetrators in trying to threaten and muzzle them. More so that the behaviour of the photographer in question was not contrary to the law and neither was it threatening peace or national security. Overall, the report highlights various issues that transpired which threatened the profession and its freedom. With calls for self-regulation, media practitioners are still working in a tough environment as anything critical of government is treated as an attack on government. The print media in the quarter under review allocated enough space to publish information likely to affect the practice of the profession. Among them include follow ups on the cyber security bills proposed by government, harassment and assault of journalists as well as stories on the progress made on the Access to Information Bill following the opening of parliament during the first quarter of the year. Efforts to diligently allow for all views and voices in the media continue despite threats on the private media by government officials to reduce their criticism of government. In the period 6