STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBA 2.0. Executive summary of State of the Media in Zambia 1st Quarter 2017 The State of the Media Report is a quarterly assessment of the media environment in Zambia. This edition of the report covers the first quarter of 2017. The report describes the conditions under which the media fraternity and journalists operated during the period under review. The report was prepared for the Zambian Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa – (MISA Zambia). It includes an assessment of the political, legal, economic, technological as well as other salient situational issues that have a bearing on the media across the country. In the final part, it compiles incidences of media violations, communiques affecting either media institutions or individual journalists practicing in Zambia. Included in the report are a number of interesting incidences that continue to add new developments, twists and intrigues to the media operational setting in Zambia, constituting significant developments during the review period. The first quarter of 2017 saw the continued onslaught on media institutions and press freedom and freedom of expression generally. It was in this quarter where the media saga involving the hitherto The Post Newspaper saw its inevitable sad end. The episode, which started unravelling in a sequence of unprecedented events, in June of 2016 saw the final disposal of the case in the courts of law and the liquidators taking full control of the affairs with the view to dispose of its assets. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Kampamba Mulenga was quoted saying the “…government values a free press….that government would soon call for a national meeting of the media to dialogue…” The Minister went on to acknowledge that the government recognised the role that a free press play[s] in national development. In the same quarter, it was reported in the media that the Zambian government had ‘given’ the national broadcaster, ZNBC to a Chinese company over a US $273 million digital migration loan that had been obtained earlier. However, the Minister of Information Mulenga Kampamba clarified that ZNBC had not been sold to the Chinese firm but rather an agreement was entered into to help roll out phase 2 and 3 of the digital migration process. Review of media content analysis data has continued to indicate high levels of polarisation especially as it pertains to the coverage and reporting on the various political parties. 6|Page