STATE OF THE MEDIA REPORT QUARTER 4, 2020 of this and previous quarters under review. Many of these media outlets rely on advertising and sponsored programmes to generate revenue. This is even more critical in rural districts like Mpika where there is little commercial activity that can sustain advertising for a media house. It is no wonder, therefore, that stakeholders condemned the action by police and the District Commissioner. Surprisingly and rightly so, Muchinga Province Police Commissioner, Joel Njase castigated the police in Mpika for summoning the management at Mpika FM: MUCHINGA Province police commissioner Joel Njase says the summoning of Mpika radio staff by officers for hosting Democratic Party president Harry Kalaba is wrong and unprofessional. And Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) chairperson Helen Mwale has described the summoning of the Mpika Radio staff as a hindrance to the free flow of information. In an interview, Njase said he did not have any information on what had transpired in Mpika, but hastened to add that police had no mandate to regulate the media. “I don’t have that report but will follow up. Police have no mandate in any media related programmes because we don’t supervise or regulate the media. If that happened, then that is wrong and unprofessional on part of the officers. We shall endeavour to uphold the bill of rights,” said Njase. And Mwale said there was no law that mandated media institutions to get permission from police in order to host any citizen. “Where is it written in the law that hosting a Zambian on radio station permission should be obtained from the police? It is not in the powers of the police to summon the radio station when they host a Zambian citizen or anyone. The duty of the police is to provide security and protect us and not to be dealing with issues of running of media houses. That is why we have the regulator, IBA. Only IBA has the power to request for a recording and not the police. If it is a criminal offence, we challenge the Zambian Police to tell us when it became a criminal offence for any radio station in this country to host someone? What are the issues that the police are looking for? If Mr Harry Kalaba is a criminal let them deal with him as a criminal and not as a person that is going to speak on the radio,” Mwale said. “One thing that the police should know is that, maybe I need to educate them a bit, media houses are there to provide a platform for exchange of views. They are there to ensure that citizens have access to information. When Mpika radio featured Mr Kalaba they allowed for freedom of expression; (ii) they ensured that the people of Mpika had access to information; (iii) they provided a space for citizens to debate so that the can make informed decisions or make better choices on whatever decision they want in their lives. So what is wrong with that? If Mr Harry Kalaba committed an offence, if Mr Harry Kalaba insulted, can they deal with Mr Kalaba as a criminal outside the radio station and not to interfere in the operations of the radio station.” P a g e 13 | 56