12^th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies (EMB)

“Egmont”, Place du Petit Sablon, 8bis, B-1000 Brussels

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Working Group (English/Dutch): “Norms regarding media neutrality during electoral campaigns”

Introductory Notes for Jos WIENEN, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Chairman of the Council for Democratic Elections (Venice Commission).

Dear colleagues,

I have the great pleasure to moderate the Working Group on “Norms regarding media neutrality during electoral campaigns”.

Media neutrality is a critical condition for democratic elections, and its importance within democracies has been acknowledged for a long time by the Council of Europe, as well as other institutions carrying out elections observation missions and providing electoral assistance.

When we talk about media neutrality, we usually think of the voters’ right to be comprehensively informed during electoral campaigns - without omissions, without biased information or without untruthful news. It is a necessary condition for voters to make an informed and thoughtful electoral choice.

But media neutrality is also important for parties to communicate about their programmes and priorities and to provide an arena in which candidates can debate and present themselves. Media should guarantee the equal treatment of all candidates to provide a level playing field for all competitors, especially when the incumbent is running for re-election.

At the same time, this Working Group is about the role, functions and rights of journalists and the preservation of freedom of expression and the media. The professional conduct of journalists along with their protection against media owners’ pressures is important to ensure media neutrality.

From the point-of-view of election observation, there are some sensitive issues of specific interest with regard to the way in which media do - or do not - adopt a neutral attitude. This includes:

·         Accuracy of media reporting.

·         Distorted reporting and failure to cover important issues.

·         Media coverage of hate speech and the use of inflammatory language.

·         Misleading headlines and graphics.

·         As well as ethical issues related to the professional or ethical standards of journalism in a given country.

The implementation of regulations on media neutrality during electoral campaigns is complex and depends very much on the type of media. In general, public media, notably TV stations, have to respect the highest standards. Independent supervisory bodies can be useful in case of violation of media neutrality by governmental or other institutions.

Private electronic media are mainly concerned by the question of ownership and regulations on media concentration. They are urged to respect the principles of journalistic independence and objectivity but in practice other factors play an important role – notably audience ratings and revenues from advertising. On the other hand, private print media are usually less regulated and political-partisan political views seem more acceptable for them.

Media neutrality during electoral campaigns is thus a complex question, especially with regard to norms, regulations and the way in which they are implemented and monitored. I hope that our Working Group will be able to shed some light on this topic.

To begin with, I invite Mister Kummeling, President of the Dutch Electoral Council, to take the floor. He has prepared a contribution on “Media monitoring by EMBs and presence of EMBs in the media”.