STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA 6.2. Positive developments One of the biggest news reported in the quarter was the approval of the ATI by cabinet. On 19 th March 2019, the Daily Mail reported that cabinet had approved the bill for tabling in Parliament. The debate over the enactment of the ATI bill has raged on since 2002 and governments have come and gone but the bill still remains shelved. The news of the approval of the ATI bill was received with mixed feelings as some stakeholders were concerned about the secrecy surrounding the contents of the bill. Another positive development in the quarter was the launch of two media advocacy groups. The Zambia Independent Media Alliance (ZIIMA) and the Independent Press Initiative (IPI) which were launched on 19th January and 15th March respectively. 6.3. Negative developments The harassment and suspension of Prime TVs broadcasting licence for 30 days dominated most of the media reports in the first quarter of 2019. The decision by IBA to suspend the licence was seen as an infringement on Prime TVs freedom of the media and was condemned by a cross section of society that included the church, civil society organisations, foreign dignitaries and the public at large. 7.0. Conclusion There is an urgent need to get the Access to Information Bill tabled in parliament and its enactment accelerated. The current status quo is not healthy as there is no law compelling public office bearers to release information to the media and the public at large. It is argued that the increase in the usage of self-publishing platforms like social media has culminated into an increase in publishing of information that is usually laden with rumours and hearsay and by the time public office bearers come to clear the air, information released via social media and other self-publishing platforms is inconsistent with the information already in public the domain. The solution to sorting the inconsistence in information access and dissemination is to enact the Access to Information Bill to grant the media and the public access to credible information. 30