STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA threatening to shut down local TV channels. TopStar is the Chinese company that was contracted to help implement the digital migration process which in turn was made the national carrier. According to Diamond TV Chief Executive Officer Costa Mwansa, the company in the original contract is only supposed to be a broadcast carrier16. Currently, TopStar is operating as both the broadcast carrier as well as the pay TV channel contrary to the original contract. “Diamond TV Chief Executive Officer Costa Mwansa has cited among other things the trend in which Top Star carries private stations as pay TV channels when they are actually listed as free to air without receiving payment for the pay TV service. “Mr. Mwansa adds that Top Star is going against the digital migration policy which prohibits an entity from being a carrier and content provider at the same time.17” As it stands, a lot of information surrounding the establishment and the operations of TopStar remain unknown as there is little information in the media about the company. Following the Digital Migration Policy launched in 2014, a signal distributor such as TopStar should not be content provider as is the case. Therefore, as it stands, TopStar’s operation of both a signal distributor or carrier and a content creator goes against the policy18. 5.0 Conclusion The media in the first quarter had difficult in covering of certain events as there are still areas where objective and balanced reporting is not done. The private media are still not free to publish information deemed critical of government as they are constantly under censorship and surveillance by the state. Cadres also threaten the operations of the media with calls by the PF and some government officials to have media houses to cover government related issues positively. 16 th Muvi TV (Facebook) 10 February, 2018: TopStar Threatens Private Television Stations With Blackout th News Diggers, 30 January, 2018: TIZ Takes Govt To Task Over Star Times Single Sourcing 18 Ibid 17 18