Despite lacking essential equipment and funding, a group of journalists in Zambia has launched the country's first breaking news website.

Aimed at both residents and expats, The Watchdog is staffed by three journalists, who currently report for, produce and fund the site.

The site's primary aim is to cover news on a 24-hour basis – a rare objective in Zambia, its editor Lloyd Himaambo told Journalism.co.uk.

Newspapers in the country 'just upload content from hard copies', while other online news sites do not source their own content reverting to 'stale news', said Himaambo.

"Newspapers in Zambia are expensive and distribution sometimes is poor, so people may get the news late, but those who are connected to the internet can access the Watchdog free and get news fast."

The group has created and maintained the site for the two weeks since launch, despite a lack of proper equipment.

To overcome poor internet connectivity in the country, Watchdog staff have frequently been forced to relocate from their office to use computers at the Media Institute of Southern Africa.

"The biggest challenge we have in fully realising this dream is lack of proper equipment and unreliable internet connectivity," said Himaambo.

"We do not have laptops which could allow reporters to directly key-in stories from the field, but [instead] they are required to come back to the office (...) so this usually delays publishing breaking news. We also would love to have pictures for every story we run, but our current budget does not allow us to acquire digital cameras."

The site's 'current budget' is supplied by its journalists, who self-fund the site without taking any income for themselves.

Himaambo said he hopes to introduce advertisers and use the revenue from this to improve equipment and boost training in online journalism for staff.

"Not all our members of staff are fully conversant with online journalism and its gadgets but we are not in a position to fully equip them with such skills. We only run them through the very basics and hope they learn by practice. It can be frustrating at times."

To complement its online efforts, a print edition specialising in investigative journalism has also been created to run and content will only be repeated on both platforms 'in rare circumstances'.

The site also has plans to partner local radio stations in Zambia, which would broadcast news from the website, to reach non-internet users in areas of low internet penetration.

"Zambia is divided into nine administrative provinces and each province has at least two community radio stations. These radio stations are usually run by volunteers and are located in rural areas where they have no access to breaking news in the capital city, where all major policy decisions are made. These stations luckily are connected to the internet," explained Himaambo.

"Under the partnerships (...) the entire country will be covered and benefit from the Watchdog."

It doesn't stop there: the organisation is also targeting mobile operators to bring breaking news content to Zambian mobiles, said Himaambo: "The aim for the site is that it should be a one-stop news source for Zambia."