Media
development is the process of strengthening the capacity and quality of
media. This process includes advocacy,
technical assistance, education as well as many other activities that address
the media sector as a whole. The Center
for International Media Assistance (CIMA) provides the following
recommendation:
Media development requires an integrated approach.
Professional development is critical, but insufficient; well-trained journalists
need supportive laws; editors need supportive publishers; and owners need
managers with business skills to make their enterprises sustainable. A public
that understands the value of quality journalism and government officials who
understand the role of an independent press are equally important. Change will
happen faster if all the factors—professional development, economic
sustainability, legal-enabling environment, and media literacy—are addressed
simultaneously.[i]
Election
coverage will almost always benefit from concerted efforts toward media
development in general. Here are some of
the key points explored in this chapter:
- Media professionalism is the conduct of media
coverage and activities according to high standards of ethics, accountability,
legality and credibility, while exercising rights such as freedom of expression
and information. Media professionalism
is an essential ingredient to democratic election processes.
- There
is often a dearth of training and experience in election reporting. Journalists
often do not have professional journalism degrees, and have limited exposure to
professional training. Where journalists do have access to education and
training, the topic of elections is quite often a minor component of the
training, often subsumed under ‘political reporting’ or a similar topic. Many
journalists gain skills in election reporting from on-the-job experience, or
from courses organised by stakeholders in the lead-up to elections. These
courses may be useful, or may be limited in scope.
- To
promote quality media and enhance its role in democratic societies, many other
important activities are carried out worldwide. These include:
o
Advocacy
and Legal Support
o
Business
Development
o
Media
Infrastructure
- Planning
is very important to election coverage. Elections are challenging stories,
requiring major redeployment of human and financial resources. Much of what
needs to be done can be foreseen before the beginning of an election campaign.
- Journalists
and editors need to keep sight of specific ethical issues that may arise in
election reporting. Sometimes media organisations will come together and
formulate a voluntary code of conduct for election coverage, in consultation
with other stakeholders – notably EMBs and political parties. Sometimes media
outlets will formulate internal codes of conduct that apply just to their
outlet.
- Journalists
need to develop understanding of media strategies adopted by political parties
to communicate their messages. Journalists will need to be careful not to become
unwitting servants of the parties’ media campaigns, while still maintaining
capacity to explain parties’ behaviour to the public.
- Accurate
and innovative election reporting takes public interest as its starting point
and priority. , As part of this effort, it includes not only the voices of
contestants but also of voters and the general public.
[i] David E. Kaplan, Empowering
Independent Media, U.S. Efforts to Foster Free and Independent News Around the World.
Inaugural Report: 2008, ed. Marguerite H. Sullivan, (Washington DC:
National Endowment for Democracy, 2008), 8
