STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA In the period under review however, like earlier in the year, the media in the period under review was dominated by debates around the statutory self-media regulation with the Lusaka Times publication on the 4th November, 2019 carrying a headline: “Dora pushes media regulation, as Nkombo questions airing of ZNBC programmes on Prime TV”. It was reported that the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Hon. Dora Siliya said government had resolved to formulate a statutory self-regulatory framework for journalists, as failure by the media practitioners to do so was hampering progress on the enactment of the Access to Information Bill. The paper reported that the Information and Broadcasting Minister noted that the media had failed to come up with its own regulatory framework despite being given the chance to do so. She was quoted saying: “The ministry requested the media practitioners, journalists in particular to formulate a statutory self-regulatory framework… as a prerequisite to the enactment of the Access to Information Bill. Mr. Chairman, I regret to report that it has been eight months since the media practitioners, the journalists in particular reaffirmed their commitment to develop a self-regulatory framework but with no tangible progress made so far. Consequently, my ministry has resolved to formulate a self-regulatory framework for media practitioners because their lack of progress is holding back a very important national bill such as the Access to Information Bill (ATI). Mr. Chairman, as a ministry, we have met our corresponding targets to facilitate enactment of the bill. We have developed a government communication policy and we have developed a government communication strategy.” It is interesting to note that the Minister’s sentiments that the enactment of the Access to Information bill is tied to the success or failure of the statutory self-regulatory framework for the media. Making this more interesting, is the fact that the ATI bill is not a preserve of the journalists alone but a law that will have influence and improve the way people access and/or demand for information. It must be noted therefore that to achieve better results the ATI and the media regulation pieces of legislation must stand clear of each other as regards enactment. 11