STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA And that Media Owners and any other stakeholders that are willing to work together with the technical committee are welcome to do so. The move by journalists to draft a statutory self-media regulatory framework received kudos from stakeholders including the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Dora Siliya who on 17th April, 2019, was quoted by the Lusaka Times Publication saying “Journalism needs to be recognized as a profession.” In the article Ms. Dora Siliya was quoted saying: Journalism needs to be recognized as a profession and as such, practitioners must come together and set standards for their craft. Journalists both in the private and public sector are the same hence should have the same standards and adhere to the same professional code of ethics. The establishment of a media council that is backed by the law will help to cure, among other things, polarization which has characterized the media fraternity. The council will also protect journalism from invasion by quack journalists. In addition to calling for the recognition of journalism as a profession, Ms. Siliya said time had come for the profession to regain its position and status in society. In a show of support for the statutory self-regulation, on 14th May, 2019 the Times of Zambia publication carried a headline, “Kasolo hails journalists”. The newspaper reported that government is optimistic the proposed self-regulation media policy will be passed into law before the end of this year. In the article the newspaper quoted the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo, saying that he is confident the policy will eliminate bad elements in the media industry and also promote respect among journalists. The paper reported that: Government is happy that journalists have resolved to protect the integrity of their profession through the adoption of a statutory self-regulatory policy. We commend the great move taken by journalists and we are happy that the self-regulatory media policy will eliminate pretenders from the professionals which has over the years been infiltrated by bad elements. The Permanent Secretary further said that government wants the issue of media regulation to be conclusively dealt with and that the media must be free to consult the government, should they face challenges in their deliberations, Mr. Kasolo said. 8