STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA With digital migration comes a need to extend the services of the national broadcaster to all provincial centres. In this regard, on 26th November, 2019, the Zambia Daily Mail publication carried a headline “Kasolo wants North-West switched on.” It was reported that the then Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr. Chanda Kasolo stated that Government will spend about US$8 million to set up a provincial broadcasting studio in North-Western Province under the digital migration programme. The paper further reported that Mr. Kasolo said Government is saddened that the site where the provincial broadcasting studio was being constructed in the province had been vandalized after the contractor abandoned the project due to some technicalities. He said in the meantime Government has identified a building where the provincial broadcasting studio will be established to ensure that the region is not left behind. The paper further quoted the then Permanent Secretary saying: “We are in a hurry to make sure this studio is ready and our target is that by March 31 next year, all the eight provincial studios will be switched on,” He said the establishment of the provincial television studios will help create employment for many Zambians such as actors, actresses, producers, writers and editors among others, through producing local content. Mr. Kasolo said the province has a lot of wonderful stories to tell such as being the source of the Zambezi River, historical sites as well as the cultural heritage. Meanwhile on 3rd November 2019 in line with the developments in the ICT field, the Ministry of Transport and Communication was quoted by the Lusaka Times online newspaper under the heading: “Transformation Of The ICTs Sector Will Help Meet Zambia’s Development Aspirations-Communications Minister”. It was reported that the Minister of Transport and Communications Mutotwe Kafwaya had called for an enhanced approach towards exploring new innovations aimed at accelerating digital transformation in the country. 15