STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBIA During the period, incidents of harassment of media practitioners and media houses increased compared to the second quarter – April to June. Cadres and police officers harassed and in some cases assaulted journalists while executing their duty. The fact that media practitioners were nonetheless harassed, worse still, at the hands of the Zambia Police, was in itself bad as they should be protecting media practitioners. There is dire need to address and find a lasting solution that ensures safety and peaceful working environment for the media practitioners and media houses. 4.0 Findings - Overview During the second quarter of the year (2018) a study was conducted to establish the media mostly used to access news in Lusaka province. The findings showed that Facebook (FB) commanded the highest reach among the respondents, with 88% of the respondents accessing it, followed by television (81%), stand-alone online newspapers (63%), radio (61%) and online versions of print newspapers at 43%. Print newspapers were accessed by 39% and Twitter had the least access with only 9% of the respondents accessing it. The study established that standalone online newspapers were the third most accessed media type by Zambian audiences, accessed by 63% (335)1 of the respondents, surpassed only by FB (another platform from the “New Media” group) and television (Mbozi, forthcoming). 1 335 is the number of respondents who progressed to the second part of the interview, specifically focused on their experience with, and assessment of, Zambian stand-alone online newspapers. 7