Complicating crisis narratives: Civic embeddedness and relational trust in the Zambian news ecosystem

Much of the recent academic discourse suggests journalism is in crisis due to declining revenues, reduced public trust, and digital disruptions (D’Arma et al., 2025). Zambia, however, offers a distinctive case of a proliferating media sector, growing newspaper readership, and journalists who retain strong public esteem despite material precarity (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2022; MISA Zambia, 2020; Mwimbe, 2023). Drawing on interviews with journalists, media practitioners, educators, and local leadership across Lusaka and Muchinga Province, this article examines how journalism and public information circulate across uneven urban and rural infrastructures. Findings reveal that Zambian journalism is driven by civic commitment, strong public trust, and adaptive practices. Community radio remains a central civic platform in rural areas, whilst trusted local intermediaries help relay information where direct journalistic reach is weakened by infrastructural constraints. Digital migration has encouraged content hybridity and audience engagement, with bloggers and news outlets negotiating legitimacy and symbolic power. Despite financial and logistical challenges, investigative journalism is gaining traction, supported by public appetite for accountability. Print media retains cultural authority, especially in regions with limited internet access. The study therefore argues that Zambia complicates dominant crisis narratives by showing that civic commitment, relational trust, and hybrid adaptation can sustain journalism under precarious conditions, even where labour insecurity, structural legal vulnerabilities, and territorial exclusion persist.