On 25 November 2008, the newly appointed Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha, said the government had no choice but to regulate the media through statutory means because the press had failed to self regulate.

In an interview with the "Times of Zambia", Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said that the media had proven during the presidential by-election of 30 October that it was incapable of self regulation.

He challenged the media organisations, including MISA Zambia, the Media Council of Zambia, the Press Association of Zambia, the Zambia Union of Journalists and the Press Freedom Committee of "The Post" newspapers, to prove their ability to regulate themselves.

BACKGROUND:

In a 24 November press briefing, the media associations objected to calls by Members of Parliament (MPs) for statutory regulation of the media. The MPs called for statutory regulation on 13 November when they adopted a report by the Parliamentary Committee on Information and Broadcasting.

Updates alert on MPs' call for media regulation: http://www.ifex.org/eseedo_q/content/view/full/98594