Namibia In Namibia the chapter embarked on a campaign to influence media practitioners regarding the need for a culture of accountability and professionalism through adoption of a code of ethics. The process to have a self-regulatory mechanism began in 2002 and ended with the appointment of a media ombudsman in 2003. However, the media complains that process was not properly done, though the code was adopted after a consultative process that most media houses participated in. MISA Namibia subsequently changed its strategy to further mobilise the media to formally adopt the code and adhere to it, whilst also undertaking a civil society awareness campaign. Tanzania MISa Tanzania conducted workshops in all five zones and 20 regions on the mainland to raise the issues of ethics and media freedom. These workshops were attended by more than 100 participants and achieved the chapter’s objectives of raising public awareness of the role of the media and its responsibility to the citizens. In a supporting activity MISA Tanzania hosted a meeting of 20 editors from the yellow press in an effort to promote change in yellow press tabloids to adhere to self regulation and a code of ethics. MISA Tanzania followed-up the meeting with a monitoring activity and has since reported a general improvement in the content of the yellow press. Another achievement of the meeting was the marked decrease in complaints to the Media Council of Tanzania by victims of bad taste reportage. Unfortunately, the improvement was short-lived and the yellow press has reverted to portraying women in a bad light and using images of women to sell their publications. Both MISA Tanzania and the regional secretariat view this as an ongoing project and hope to secure the necessary resources to ensure that it is continued in all the regions. Zambia In Zambia, the process of merging the two self-regulatory mechanism resulted in The Constitution of the Media Council of Zambia (MECOZ) being finalised in August 2003 and submitted to the boards of the Press Association of Zamb ia (PAZA) and MISA Zambia. The two boards held a joint meeting on 10 October 2003 where nine members were appointed to sit on the MECOZ board. All nine, who include a former High Court Judge and a traditional ruler, among others have accepted to serve on the MECOZ board and they had a formal induction meeting and orientation workshop on 6 February 2004. Subsequently, registration of MECOZ has been lodged with the registrar of societies. Expectations are high from the government, media and the public that MECOZ will play an important role in promoting professionalism among Zambian media practitioners. A launch of MECOZ will take place in May 2004. Zimbabwe MISA Annual Report (April 2003 – March 2004) 80