Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) is a news agency/public relations wing of the government that came into being in 2005 following the merger between Zambia News Agency (ZANA) and Zambia Information Services (ZIS), both government departments.
Media assets
News agency: ZANIS
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
ZANIS falls under the Ministry of Information and Media, its managing director being a civil servant and getting paid directly by the ministry.
Source of funding and budget
ZANIS is fully funded by the government. In 2019, it received a budget of ZMW 18.8m (US$ 800,000), according to an annual budget report from the former Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services. In 2022, ZANIS received a state budget allocation of ZMW 4.9m (US$ 227,000), according to the state budget.
Editorial independence
ZANIS has a mandate to cover government policies and build public support for these policies. ZANIS is perceived as a government mouthpiece.
No statue and no oversight or assessment mechanism in place at ZANIS to validate its editorial independence have been identified.
October 2023