Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation -ZNBC- says inadequate equipment is hindering efforts to give coverage to all political parties.
ZNBC Director General Richard Mwanza says the corporation is operating under difficult conditions but is striving to cover all political parties.
And Mr Mwanza says ZNBC Management will soon engage all political parties to discuss coverage of their activities on both radio and television.
Speaking on Wednesday when he appeared before the Parliamentary committee on Information, Mr Mwanza appealed to political parties to restrain their cadres from attacking media personnel assigned to cover political assignment.
He also attributed the high levels of self censorship at the institution to external interference from politicians.
Mr. Mwanza told Committee Chairperson Kabinga Pande that every election period brings about changes in staff structure and loss of jobs.
He also said there is need to change the perception that ZNBC is a government mouthpiece which he said stems from the one party rule in the past.
Mr Mwanza further called for media reforms that would enable the media industry to operate in a professional manner.
And ZNBC Director of Programmes Rose Chumpuka said the corporation is positioning itself to adequately cover the election and is working closely with stakeholders to meet this objective.
And TV1 Assignments Editor Kennedy Bwalya said the ZNBC newsroom is giving coverage to the political parties and reserves the right to tell stories in an objective manner.
And ZNBC controller Television Grevazio Zulu said the guest list on the Sunday Interview programme is not biased towards the PF officials but is a platform that features a cross section of society.
Earlier Namwala MP Moono Lubezhi, Lukulu East MP Christopher Kalila and Chama South MP Effron Lungu complained that ZNBC is not giving equal coverage to opposition political parties.
And Mr. Pande urged ZNBC to maintain professionalism in its operations saying there should be no fear among employees of losing jobs regardless of which political party is in power.
ZNBC