Media code
Editorial
The media code and guidelines setting standards for the reporting of the coming elections have been finalised at roundtable conferences organised by Mr Hugh Cholmondeley as a consultant and convener for the Guyana Elections Commission. The media code has already been published in this newspaper and the guidelines are published in today's issue. A small committee has been set up to choose the persons who will constitute the Elections Media Monitoring and Refereeing Panel that will monitor the print and broadcast media on a daily basis to see whether they comply with the code and the guidelines. They will also accept complaints from the public on alleged breaches. Their findings will be published in the media. When the panel has been constituted the personnel will be announced and it is possible that a small package will be published containing the code, the guidelines and the details of the panel and indicating how complaints can be made. Mr Cholmondeley had indicated that the owners of the media, editors, producers and talk show hosts will be asked to sign the code and the guidelines. This exercise represents an effort by the media to cover the elections responsibly and according to recognised criteria so that they can make a contribution to the holding of peaceful elections. It is well recognised from past experience that irresponsible media coverage can contribute to disorder and chaos. The media have agreed, for example, that they will not publish or broadcast any report which, by its content, carries a clear risk of inciting ethnic hatred or political disorder without having the accuracy and authenticity of the report confirmed by at least two independent sources. They agree that special standards of care apply at elections time and there are added responsibilities. The media also agree in the guidelines to give some free space in the print media and free time in the broadcast media to the political parties after nomination day to air their views. They have also agreed to provide equal access and opportunity to all political parties to purchase paid political advertising at the same rates. The material submitted by the parties will not be censored but it is provided in Guideline l that the media "should refuse any material submitted by political parties, or their agents, likely to be hateful, ethnically offensive, to promote public disorder or threaten the security of the State". The political parties are also expected to sign their own code of conduct setting ground rules for the campaign and the elections. In Mr Mandela's South Africa, in many ways a model democracy for developing countries, this code had statutory effect and political parties were required to sign it failing which they could not contest the elections. The signing of such a code should help the media as it will presumably inhibit the parties from themselves making inflammatory remarks which the media may find a difficulty in reporting. It is, we believe, a measurable step forward that the media are setting themselves high standards for their coverage of the elections. With an experienced panel in place to monitor their performance there will hopefully be more responsible coverage than there was for the l997 elections when rumour often became fact and the wildest and most unfounded stories were reported as news.
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