STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA Zambia Union of Broadcasters and Information Disseminators Secretary general Andrew Mpandamwike confirmed the development to News Diggers in an interview. It is not clear whether the two captions circulated on social media were the reasons for their suspension, as Public Relations Officer Yvette Chanda, when contacted, expressed ignorance over the matter. Just over a month ago, ZNBC showed a news clip of United Nations Resident Coordinator Janet Rogan with a caption “Inonge Wina, Vice president”, forcing netizens to mock the national broadcaster that the Vice-president had changed complexion. Other mentions of ZNBC in the media were with regards to IBA regulation of ZNBC. 4.2 Economic and technological environment 4.2.1 Increased usage of social media for wide reach Digital convergence has continued to increase. Due to developments in computing and other information technologies, media institutions are now able to distribute media content across different platforms. ZNBC happened to be a bigger player through live streaming of various programmes including its main news bulletins. Following the introduction of Facebook live, many other media institutions such as Hot FM Zambia incorporated Facebook Live and the Mingletainment app to broadcast programs with a wider audience using the internet. In some cases, news was read on radio while being streamed live on its Facebook page 15. This is a trend which is being adopted by different individuals and organisations, even political parties hoping to communicate with audiences in real time. For example MISA Zambia usually conducts live streaming of public discussion and events. This improvement in technology has allowed for increased interaction with the audience as the audience in most cases prefers watching a video rather than just listening to audio. 15 Hot FM Zambia Facebook Page – News at 18hrs with Lungowe Simbotwe – 24th April, 2018 at 18:01 16