This article takes news coverage of the Soweto uprising of 1976 as a case study to demonstrate the influence of South Africa and Britain on the media in post-colonial Zambia. In part, this can be accounted for by the growing popularity of Radio Republic of South Africa (RSA) among listeners in Zambia, particularly in regions that were on the front line of the liberation struggle. RSA defended the actions of the South African police, as did the BBC World Service. Remarkably, Zambia’s own press and broadcast services also took a similar line at times, thanks to their reliance on Reuters news agency, which, in turn, made uncritical use of South African government sources. However, by reading news content in the light of audience research data, it is argued that, in other ways, Zambian independence represented a meaningful departure from the colonial past. Decolonisation enabled the development of a more pluralistic culture of news consumption, a trend further encouraged by an international boom in transistor-radio sales with short-wave capability. Zambia’s news culture also illustrated the limits of one-party rule. Although Kenneth Kaunda sought to emulate the stifled atmosphere of the Northern Rhodesian media, it proved impossible in the changed circumstances of the later 1960s and 1970s.

本文以1976年索韦托起义的新闻报道为例，论证南非和英国对后殖民时代赞比亚媒体的影响。部分原因是南非共和国广播电台 (RSA) 在赞比亚的听众中越来越受欢迎，特别是在解放斗争前线的地区。RSA 为南非警察的行为辩护，BBC World Service 也为之辩护。值得注意的是，赞比亚自己的新闻和广播服务有时也采取类似的做法，这要归功于他们对路透社的依赖，而后者反过来不加批判地利用了南非政府的消息来源。然而，根据受众研究数据阅读新闻内容，有人认为，在其他方面，赞比亚的独立代表着对殖民历史的有意义的背离。非殖民化促进了更多元化的新闻消费文化的发展，具有短波功能的晶体管收音机的国际销售热潮进一步鼓励了这一趋势。赞比亚的新闻文化也说明了一党专政的局限性。尽管肯尼思·卡翁达 (Kenneth Kaunda) 试图模仿北罗得西亚媒体的压抑气氛，但事实证明，在 1960 年代后期和 1970 年代发生变化的情况下，这是不可能的。