Zambia Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
March 15, 2012
About the MSI
IREX designed the MSI to measure the strength and viability of any country's media sector. The MSI considers all the factors that contribute to a media system—the quality of journalism, effectiveness of management, the legal environment supporting freedom of the press, and more—to arrive at scores on a scale ranging between 0 and 4. These scores represent the strength of the media sector components and can be analyzed over time to chart progress (or regression) within a country. Additionally, countries or regions may be compared to one another. IREX currently conducts the MSI in 80 countries, and began studying Africa in 2006.
MSI Overview | Africa | Asia | Europe & Eurasia | Middle East & North Africa
Download Complete Zambia Chapter (PDF): 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2006/7
MSI Zambia-2010 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 1.77
In 2010, as presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections scheduled for 2011 drew near in Zambia, the media came under scrutiny. The public and private media alike are commonly accused of fanning political violence, “insulting” the government, purveying propaganda, or favoring particular political parties in the allocation of airtime and column space in the run-up to any election.
Consequently, the specter of statutory media regulation hangs ominously over Zambia’s media. The government, arguing that voluntary self-regulation of the media has failed, threatens legislative action to curb perceived excesses in the media. Media members, on the other hand, argue that government has become intolerant of criticism and has reneged on the media reform process, and merely wants to impose draconian legislation to silence all critical voices ahead of the 2011 elections.
Amid this drama, the media law reform movement, which created palpable excitement among media practitioners and pro-democracy advocates in recent years in Zambia, has suddenly stalled. At the heart of the issue is the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act, a law that has been surrounded by controversy ever since its enactment in 2002. The act was designed to create a regulatory body in line with democratic media reforms. However, optimism over what was widely viewed as progress has given way to despair. The authority has not been established to date, and the government seems bent on rewriting the law.
On July 30, 2010, the minister of information and broadcasting services, Lieutenant-General Ronnie Shikapwasha, tabled in parliament the Independent Broadcasting Authority Amendment Act, which would empower the minister to appoint IBA board members without parliamentary approval. The amendment is a repudiation of a key clause in the original legislation that compels the minister of information to ensure that an independent committee (composed of various stakeholders, including media members) appoints IBA board members. After heated debate among legislators, parliament offered a compromise. It scrapped the independent appointing committee, allowing the minister to hand pick board members but requiring the minister to submit names to parliament for ratification.
The ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) has a majority in parliament, which guarantees passage of any bill originating in government and now effectively allows the minister to appoint IBA board members without consultation. Many have the opinion that the so-called fresh amendments amount to a complete repeal of the progressive law passed in 2002, and a reinstatement of the arbitrary and authoritarian powers of the past. Although the MMD manifesto states that “freedom of expression and the right to information are basic human rights,” and journalists are expected to play an important role in promoting democracy and development, that is a scenario yet to be fulfilled, as reflected by key indicators in this report.
The Zambia study was coordinated by, and conducted in partnership with, the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
