The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday issued a code of conduct to be observed by private and state-owned media during the general elections 2013. The Commission will evolve a suitable mechanism for the implementation of Media Code of Ethics prepared by the representatives of various media organisations.
The Complain Committee will be headed by Add. DG (PR), ECP and will consist of representatives from PBA, APNS, PCP, CPNE, PTV, PBC, PFUJ, SAFMA and SAWN. Freedom of expression and the rights of journalists to report freely should be respected by all parties/candidates and state authorities during the election. There should be provision of full access to information during the election period and afterwards, the commission said.
According to the guideline, the commission expects during election period media will ensure that the public are properly informed about relevant electoral matters such as political parties, candidates, campaign issues and voting processes. Publicly owned media have a specific mandate requiring fairness and non-discrimination in their election reporting and not to discriminate against any political party or candidate. News media will try to the best of its ability that news, current affairs, interviews, talk-shows, analysis and information programmes are not biased in favour of, or against, any party or candidate.
While it is not always possible to cover all candidates in an election, 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. 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 an intent to interfere with media freedom.
There should be no prior censorship of any election coverage/programme. All political parties and state institutions must issue a clear statement that the media will not be penalised for broadcasting/publishing programmes/contents merely because they are critical of a certain party or a type of politics.
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. 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. Any candidate/party which has been defamed or is a victim of gross misrepresentation or other illegal injury by broadcast of information should be entitled to a correction and where appropriate granted an opportunity to reply.
State and private media are urged to keep a clear distinction between editorial/opinion, news and paid content. There will not be paid or sponsored news, election evaluation, analysis 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. Publicly owned media should grant all political parties/candidates airtime and news space for direct access programmes on a fair and non-discriminatory basis. Parties/candidates that represent minorities or special interest communities and groups and are formally registered should be granted access to some airtime and news space
State and Private media will make every effort to ensure that space/airtime should be allocated on a relative, proportionate basis, according to objective criteria indicating general levels of support for different parties. The registered parties that represent any section of people should normally receive some airtime. Airtime for Parties that have been banned or are operating under new names and are publicly engaged in violent acts or opposed to the democratic process and constitutional framework should be avoided. Direct access programmes by the state media should be aired at times when the broadcasts are likely to reach the largest audiences. The duty of balance would be deemed to have been breached if the programmes of some parties/candidates are aired at less favourable times than those of others.
Direct access slots should be made available by the private media on equitable financial terms for al parties/candidates. State media should provide all parties/candidates a reasonable amount of time free of charge. Parties/candidates are to be allowed to purchase airtime/space for political advertisements they should have access to such time/space in a transparent manner in accordance with the Code of Ethics for political Parties.
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 time. 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. 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 endeavor to introduce such programmes as a matter of public service.
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, the sample size, the margin of error, the fieldwork dates and data used. 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 announced final results.