STATE OF THE MEDIA REPORT QUARTER 4, 2020 from criticism and is redundant in so far as its intentions are covered by other legal provisions such as Seditious practices as well as civil defamation-among many other demerits of the law16. Other notable developments in the quarter under review included the findings of the Regional MISA Transparency Assessment Report which examines the openness and transparency of public organisations in Southern Africa17. The study evaluates to what degree information is made available to citizens upon request as well as assessing whether public organisations proactively make relevant information available via an online presence in the form of a website or social media accounts. In Zambia, a total of nine (9) public institutions were surveyed. The study found that information dissemination by public organisations in Zambia, based on requests from ordinary members of the public, is a struggle. It was also found that provision of information through online platforms continues to improve; most state organisations utilise websites and social media to make information available to the public, thereby abiding by one of the principles of Access to Information, which is proactive disclosure. It was observed in the study that information provision has been at the top of the agenda of most public organisations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the objective of keeping the public informed of developments around the pandemic. Overall, the most open institution was found to be the Electoral Commission of Zambia in line with the study’s criteria18. 16 As concluded in several studies, among them Manchishi, K. (2017). Defamation of the President and the law’s effect on media performance: a study of the Zambia Daily Mail and the Post Newspaper. Unpublished Master’s dissertation. Lusaka: UNZA. 17 The full report is available at http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/africa-media/16542.pdf 18 Other institutions surveyed are: Anti-Corruption Commission, Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of General Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Mines and Mineral Development, and Road Transport and Safety Agency P a g e 24 | 56