STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBA law to operate in Zambia as most of them are unreachable to engage them physically or otherwise on their operations. This being the case, it becomes a challenge to simply list them under one category without running the risk of lumping gossip sites, personal blogs or even propaganda sites together with genuinely established, lawful and professional online media platforms Social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook have continued to dominate the landscape in terms of breaking news and have offered mainstream media outlets a challenge to keep up with the fast pace at which they operate. A number of notable news sites that are frequently used by the masses on these social media platforms include the Zambian eye, Zambian Watchdog, Zambia Reports, Lusaka Voice, Lusaka Times, and Mwebantu Media, Lusaka Star among others. One key element that is evident among the online and new media has been the incessant appetite to publish unconfirmed reports of events in a competitive market to try and outdo the competitors and land a scoop. This trend tends to render most of the news sites incredible among several readers. And reminiscent of the mainstream news media outlets, there is overwhelming evidence of polarisation among the players in the sub sector. Despite having various focus areas, the election campaign period has seen most of the online media take partisan stances in the way they cover and report the news in the country. With mobile internet penetration falling from around 40% in the quarter of the population to stand at 35% as captured by ZICTA, the potential impact of online media still remains huge as a significant contributor to information dissemination. However, a drop in the overall internet subscription of about 5 percent is too significant to be ignored. The reasons for this can only be speculated upon as at now to be anywhere from technological challenges to economic challenges with people being unable to sustain their subscription to the internet. However, despite the downward spiralling of internet subscription, online and new media still represents a huge incentive for the online and new media to grow and provide a more credible service to the masses which translates to over one third of the total population of around 16 million inhabitants. 27 | P a g e