STATE OF THE MEDIA IN ZAMBA reputation,” the letter read.10 In the same vein, the Daily Nation Newspaper failed to serve the letter of demand, for a retraction and apology on the Mast Newspaper because there was no known address of their physical residence. Ordinarily letters of demand are served at the physical addresses of the newspaper producers and publishers, but these could not be located. Not even the printers could be located. Even the vendors on the street had no idea where the paper is printed as it is delivered and collated at the various selling points where it is collated for sale. The letter was served by email.11 The incidences and evidence gathered and presented in this report therefore, continues to represent an ever increasingly worrying trend of the recent political environment in which the media has been operating. Many media activists suggest that the worst is yet to come. What is more worrying is the fact that there is a growing tendency for media organisation to fight each other instead of brining out issues that are beneficial to the people of Zambia. What is worse now is the fact that the media due to the fear of being deregistered have resorted to sensational news to appease politicians in the name of survival. These actions will eventually take away the many positives that the country has recorded in its quest to bring back a free, plural and diverse media landscape vital for a young and fledgling democracy such as Zambia’s. Political influence is at the helm of this rather unfortunate scenario and is seen as one of the serious driving factors to the elimination of freedom of expression and that of the media if left unchecked. What seem to be scary are the extreme levels of political intolerance which becomes worse in each quarter that is reviewed. The fight to save the media keeps getting harder and harder by the day, and with the coming of online regulation laws, one would wonder what will become of the media fraternity. 3.The Mast, 3rd April, 2017 4Daily Nation 3rd April, 2017 17 | P a g e