THE ROLE OF THE

MEDIA IN ELECTIONS
Kamufisa Manchishi
Lecturer/Researcher
“Were it left to me to
decide whether we
should have a
government without
newspapers, or
newspapers without a
government, I should not
hesitate a moment to
prefer the latter.”
-Thomas Jefferson-
General functions of the Media
 Watchdog Role: Monitoring the activities of public administrations and other
institutions/practices that directly/indirectly affect the public; to be the ‘eyes
and ears’ of the public.
 Information Role: disseminates various information from different sectors of
society and usually acts as first point of call.
 Entertainment Role: The Media provides entertainment in various forms e.g.
satire, caricatures, features etc.
 Public Education Role: The media offers education on various topics e.g.
during Cholera outbreaks. Uses creative ways of shaping attitudes and
behaviours.
 Agenda-Setting Role: The media sets the agenda for public discussion
through framing.
 Facilitating participatory governance: by offering a platform for debate and
exchange of ideas.
 ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN ELECTIONS
▪ Media access and coverage of elections is actually a criterion for judging whether
elections are free and fair.
▪ Media Monitoring during election periods is therefore important e.g. MISA election
coverage monitoring uses triangulation to measure the media’s role in an election.
 Media Offer a platform for alternative ideas from the contestants e.g. Presidential
debates
 Media provide a platform for the public to communicate their concerns, opinions,
and needs, to the parties/candidates, the EMB, the government, and to other voters,
and to interact on these issues;
 Media scrutinise the entire electoral management process from delimitation to
appeals in order to evaluate the fairness of the process, its efficiency, and its probity.
 Media provide public education on electoral processes, role of various stakeholders in
elections etc.
 Media generally facilitate the enjoyment of the freedom of expression & Access to
Information which is cardinal in modelling ‘informed voters’ (FOX is in Article 20 of
Zambian Constitution).
 2.2 PRINCIPLES OF JOURNALISM ETHICS
• These are guiding statements to proper conduct in the performance of journalistic duties.
1. Truth
• This is the most important and foundational principle of journalism ethics.
• Journalists should use as many sources as possible to establish the truth and if in doubt the story
should be withheld
• If it is to be reported with doubt this must be stated in the broadcast or publication in order to put the
audience on notice i.e. a warning e.g. Reports which we are yet to verify indicate that… or
“unconfirmed reports indicate that..” or “Sources allege that” etc.
• Conversely, if confident of the truth because it is from an authentic source the reporter can indicate
this in the story by suggesting the credibility level of the source from whom the information was
obtained. E.g. “sources close to the investigation”, or “highly placed sources have revealed that” etc
• The reporter must have a very high standard of determining the truth as truth may be relative and
this will involve multi-sourcing, verification, document review, investigation etc
• It is worth noting that in defamation suits (except criminal defamation), truth is an absolute defense
2. Fairness
• The reporter has an obligation to ensure that the information reported is fair and does not
misrepresent a particular source, party or actor involved in the story.
• Journalists should not falsify statements or quote them out of context e.g. Prime TV story
quoting ZESCO MD son climate change not being a cause of load-shedding
• Unfair reporting involves doing things with malice such as leaving out critical responses
of a source or editing a statement in order to make the source say what they did not
actually say for the sake of the story.
• Similarly, fair comment on a matter of public interest passes as a secondary defense in an
action for defamation. However, fairness is a weak defense as it must be free of malice.
• In summary, fairness is reporting is treating sources and information appropriately and
within the rightful context without undermining any one.
• Headlines: It is mandatory that headlines are a true, fair depiction of the story and should
not mislead readers. E.g putting a flashy headline that is not actually contained in the story
in order to increase sales
3. Accuracy
• Accuracy comes in many ways and it is one of the bedrocks of journalistic writing.
• Accuracy refers to validity of facts and information, numbers, words as well as the prose
and narrative.
• Direct quotations should not be edited; reporters are advised to use short, precise
quotations in the story.
• Care must be taken to ensure that statistics, numbers and facts used in the story are
accurate. This includes spellings and grammar as poorly written stories tend to lose
credibility.
• To achieve accuracy, it is important to ensure that news copy is edited as many times as
possible; sometimes it is even necessary to employ a Copy Editor. Sometimes being in
haste to break the news can cause the reporter/media house to run inacurate stories and
this must never be the case.
4. Balance and objectivity
• This refers to impartiality and the need to offer a fair mix of opinions
• Journalists must present a selection of varied viewpoints on a matter and allow the
audience (readers/viewers/listeners) to make their own judgment
• Journalists should not sway the audience in a particular direction and force them to make a
conclusion based on one side of the information
• All sides in a story must be given an opportunity to be heard. A story always has more
than one side to it e.g. protagonist, antagonist, stakeholder, regulator etc.
• Journalists are only expected to present facts; they are not allowed to include their opinion
in a story as this can only be done in an opinion editorial.
• In fact, this is one of the distinguishing features: the separation of fact and opinion.
5. Right of Reply
• An opportunity must be given to persons/institutions mentioned in the news to reply to
what has been said/reported about them.
• Right to reply could mean rebutting/denying allegations made in the story, supplying more
information to add to what has been reported and so on
• Right of reply should be granted promptly at the earliest possible opportunity and must be
given the same prominence as the initial story.
• Right of reply can be granted by publishing a right of reply statement in a bulletin or
providing a special segment/interview/column to allow the affected party clarify the
observed issues.
• Where an error has been made in the publication, a correction and apology must be
rendered and the identified error corrected in a subsequent publication. However, a
correction and apology are technically an admission of guilt and can be used against the
media house by the plaintiff in court.
• To avoid this, such an apology (especially if written as private correspondence to the other
party) must include a phrase “Without prejudice” usually as a headnote.
6. Privacy
• Each individual is entitled to privacy and this is indicated as a right. Privacy is the right to
control access to personal information as well as freedom from intrusion or interference
• In the process of news gathering, journalist must respect the privacy of sources and places
• A journalist must distinguish between a public place/person and a private place/person.
One aspect of interest in media law are what are called the Sullivan Rules (applicable in
US/Australian Jurisdiction). Generally public officials have a greater burden of proof and
should be amenable to public scrutiny and suffer a greater burden of proof in court as they
have to prove actual malice by the defendant.
• The major issue where privacy is concerned is transparency/accountability/need to know
on one hand and individual privacy on the other
• The guiding principle is that what public officials do even in their private capacity can be
exposed by journalists to people’s scrutiny as it may affect the execution of public duties
e.g. the case of Kaizar Zulu
Privacy Cont’d
• As such, public officials do not have as much privacy as private citizens
• In deciding whether to invade an official’s privacy, the journalist must ask: How important
is the information I am seeking? Are there other ways to get it? Does the public have the
right to know this?
• The mere satisfaction of curiosity should not be reason enough to violate an individual’s
privacy
• Another consideration is how much harm might the people being covered receive when
the story is aired or published?
• There are special groups that require extra protection such as the sick, the dead, rape
victims, minors (always get parental consent), mentally unfit persons.
• The journalist should also beware of places to which the right of admission is reserved as
there may be specific restrictions such as use of cameras and permission must be sought in
this regard.
7. Impersonation/Deception
• Journalists are obliged to reveal their identity as reporters when collecting news and other
information
• This enables sources to be on guard when giving information and be able to vouch for its
truth and accuracy. This is know as “on the record” while information given but not be
published can be termed as “off the record”.
• The journalist should always notify a source if they intend to use the information being
collected for publication
• A journalist should not impersonate other people in order to get information e.g. police
officers, doctors, government officers etc.
• It is argued that in some cases impersonation is acceptable but this is a broad ethical
debate as the law equally does not allow it.
8. Conflict of Interests
• Journalists should avoid being involved in reporting a person or entity/event where there is
a conflict of interests to avoid biased reportage
• Ignoring such conflicts may lead to loss of objectivity and credibility of the story
• E.g. a reporter falling in love with a source, receiving money/gifts for coverage, being a
member of a political party etc.
9. Obscenity
• The definition of what is obscene varies from place to place, culture, time and
circumstance. Obscenity covers words and actions against what is considered to be the
accepted standard of morality and decency in a given place.
• Care must be taken in the use of pictures/videos and descriptions (language).
• The journalist must also warn the audience if obscene material has to be used while
sensitive material should be blurred e.g. nude pictures
• The law (Penal Code) has provisions on obscenity
 You are the editor at Mulungushi Times Newspaper and your
journalist has just returned from the Nc’wala ceremony; he/she has
included this picture as part of the story will you publish it?
10. Attribution/Plagiarism
• Journalist must recognise the works of other people and attribute information to the right
sources
• Journalists must respect intellectual property; always credit owners of videos, audios,
quotations
• For example, some media houses will clearly indicate footage if not their own, including
the name of the owner of the footage
• Never get footage/material/write ups without permission/attribution (even from
Facebook/WhatsApp).
• Failure to attribute and condoning plagiarism reduces the credibility of the media house
and may result in legal suits
11. Confidentiality
• Journalists have the obligation to reveal the identity of their sources in their stories as this
is what determines the credibility of the information to some extent.
• In some cases, however, when journalists pledge confidentiality, they are under obligation
not to reveal the identity of their sources
• This is acceptable if revealing the identity of the sources endangers the source/journalist.
• However, there must be proof of imminent danger in revelation of the identity. It is
advised and more preferable to reach a compromise with the source and help them
understand the need to reveal the identity
• Additionally, journalists must not reveal the source of information (other than reports and
documents) that they are basing their need for further information on to another source
• Where confidentiality has been pledged to a source, the journalist is not to reveal the
identity even if compelled by the court and threatened with imprisonment. It is for this
reason that confidentiality promises should not be made anyhow
LOCAL STANDARDS
https://www.iba.org.zm/for-consumers/
 Retrospection
Media Coverage of the 2015 Presidential election*
Looked at:
• Political Party Coverage~Coverage of Sources ~Gender Mainstreaming ~Coverage of Issues~Fairness
-Analysed over 500 Articles across Online, Print and Broadcast Media from January 5th -20th, 2015

Some of the Results

-PF & UPND got 60 % of the coverage
-Developmental Issues and Manifesto analysis received less than 5 per cent coverage
while violence and intimidation (among other issues) made up close to 25 % of the
coverage
-Only 12 % of the sources accessed were female while 88% were male
-23% of the Stories were biased, 77% were fair.
There is usually very little coverage of issues as opposed to personalities and trivial
party matters
*Full report available at http://elections.mediamonitoringafrica.org/2015/zambia/
 Some Challenges
Political Violence against journalists, Police inertia
and partial enforcement of the electoral code of
conduct
Very oppressive legal environment that derogates
from the freedom of expression guaranteed by
Article 20. e.g. various archaic Penal Code Provisions
(Cap 87), Public order Act (Cap 113), State Security
Act(Cap 111) etc. etc.
Undue state control of the “public media” i.e. ZNBC,
Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail
• Political polarisation of the media: media houses
taking sides and aligning themselves with political
interests at the expense of ethical reportage

• Lack of specialisation (‘beat reporting’) and

inadequate training

• Lack of finances e.g. some journalists rely on

transport from their sources during elections;
community media poorly funded
 Recommendations
 Need for a functional multi-stakeholder approach to election management
 Need for explicit protection of the media and specific provisions on political
violence e.g. as provided in Part V of the Draft Constitution i.e. the Bill of Rights
(Article 38 on Media Freedom, Article 37 on ATI)
 Need for proactivity by the Police and other stakeholders regardless of whether a
situation involves the ruling party or not. This includes the process of prosecution.
 Training for journalists on election reporting, issue based journalism, electoral code
of conduct etc.
 Transformation of ‘State Media’
into true Public Service Media
 END

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION!