STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA He says those aggrieved by tough questioning from Journalists must know how to respond as the media was only doing so on behalf of the citizens. Mr. Hichilema said there is no need for any leader to abuse or indeed physically attack Journalists who have continued to offer a service to the Nation under difficult times. The church was another consistent voice with the Mast Newspaper on 30 th January quoting a catholic priest named Fr. Chola who was reported to have stated that any dictatorial attempts to silence the private media should be stopped by the ruling party. The paper reported that: Fr Chola, a media activist, said the PF should learn from past mistakes of fighting the media. In his reflection over the media harassment of Prime TV journalists by PF Secretary General Davis Mwila and the constant attacks on the Church over the dialogue process by some ‘PF’ inclined political parties, Fr Chola said the ruling party should learn from history. Following the feud between Prime TV and Mr. Davies Mwila, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) issued a directive to Prime TV demanding for recordings of some itemised news bulletins and ‘Oxgyen of Democracy’ programme. This directive was condemned by ZIIMA who through their President Mr. Jajah Coulibaly was quoted by News Diggers! On 22 nd February arguing that the IBA’s actions on Prime Television were outside the powers of the IBA Act. The paper reported that: In a statement, Mr. Jajah Coulibaly stated that Prime TV was being prosecuted before even responding to the letter written by the Patriotic Front Secretary General Davies Mwila. He stated that IBA’s quick reaction had contravened the IBA Act No. 17 of 2002 which clearly illustrates how a complaint against a broadcaster can be tendered and handled within 14 days. Coulibaly stated that PF secretary general only needed to write to Prime TV and expected response within 14 days as per law unlike what was obtaining where IBA made demands before Prime Television made any response to Davies Mwila. 20