The code says media should remain neutral in the current affairs programmes and avoid tilt towards any political party.
It further advises media not to use derogatory titles for politicians that can damage the reputation of a candidate.
Advising media to follow professionalism, the ECP says media will have complete access to information during the polls.
It also directs the local authorities to provide protection to media men so that nobody can harass them.
Media should not takes side of any political party or personality, and avoid presenting public opinion out of context.
Similarly, the code says that media should not air rumours and conjectures, the code says.
It also urges candidates and political parties to respect the freedom of expression.
“All media houses should also follow professional standards and strive for accuracy, balance and impartiality as far as possible. News media will try to the best of its ability that news, current affairs, interviews, talk-shows, analyses and information programmes are not biased in favour of, or against, any party or candidate”, draft stated.
It stated that the media should strive to ensure that all candidates/parties shall be subject to journalistic scrutiny and appropriate media coverage according to its area of target audience.
“There should be provision of full access to information during the election period and afterwards”, code of conduct stated.
It stated that the media have a duty to respect and promote tolerance and avoid all forms of expression that might be interpreted as incitement to violence or hatred on the basis of religion, creed, gender, or ethnicity.
It stated that the authorities should make special efforts to investigate all acts of violence, intimidation or harassment directed against media personnel or the property or premises of a media outlet and to bring those responsible to justice, particularly where the act was motivated by intent to interfere with media freedom.
“Neither the authorities nor media outlets should interfere with the broadcast of any election programme or election coverage unless there is a real danger or threat of imminent harm and violence”, it stated.
It added that the media shall not be held responsible legally for unlawful statements made by candidates or party representatives and broadcast during the course of election campaigns.
This, however, will not apply to the repeat/recorded telecasts or publications.
“There will not be paid or sponsored news, election evaluation, analyses and editorial opinion. All paid materials, media campaigns for elections paid by candidates or their supporters must be clearly shown as paid advertisements/campaign/content and should be done in a transparent manner in accordance with the code of ethic for elections issued by the ECP”, it stated.
It maintained that tublicly owned media should grant all political parties/candidates airtime and news space for direct access programmes on a fair and non-discriminatory basis.
“During elections, the media should endeavour to provide special information programmes that provide an opportunity for members of the public to put questions directly to party leaders and candidates, and for candidates to debate with each other on policy matters and issues that are of great concern to the electorate.
Candidates standing for office should not, however, act as anchors or presenters during the election period. Attempt to air special information programmes regarding policy matters and the issues of public importance should be aired during prime viewing or listening hours.
Broadcasters and publishers have greater editorial discretion in relation to such content than the news. But such discretion is subject to the general obligation of balance and impartiality”, it stated.
“Publicly owned are obliged to broadcast voter education programmes, at least to the extent that this is not already sufficiently covered by other information initiatives. Other media should endeavour to also introduce such programmes as a matter of public service”, it stated.
Furthermore, if a broadcaster/newspaper publishes the results of an opinion poll or election projection, they should strive to report the results fairly and in a proper context explaining the scope and limits of such polls that have their own peculiar limitations.
Opinion polls should be accompanied by information to assist viewers/listeners to understand the poll s significance, such as who conducted, commissioned and paid for the poll, the methodology used, and the sample size, the margin of error, the fieldwork dates, and data used.
Moreover, broadcasters will not air any final, formal and definite elections results without the consent and or they will be aired only with clear disclaimer that they are unofficial, incomplete and partial results which should not be taken as final results until election commission has announced final results.
According to the agreed draft on guidelines for forthcoming general elections, the ECP will evolve a suitable mechanism for the implementation of Media Code of Ethics prepared by the representatives of various media organizations. The Complain Committee will be headed by Add. DG (PR), ECP and will comprise of representatives from PBA, APNS, PCP, CPNE, PTV, PBC, PFUJ, SAFMA and SAWN.
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