Media monitoring has become a common component of international election observations missions (EOMs), since the late 1990s. This development within observation missions is testament to growing recognition of the importance of fair media access to the overall credibility of an election process, and the health of democratic institutions.

Some organisations, such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the European Union, invariably include a media team in their EOMs. Commonwealth bodies such as the Commonwealth Press Union have themselves undertaken media monitoring, quite separately from the EOMs organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

EOMs often task one or more members of the core observation team to develop an overall analysis of the media scene and its potential impact on the election. This ‘overview’ understanding of the media environment – ownership, laws, past history of restrictions on media activity – provides the background for interpreting the quantitative data gathered in the course of monitoring.

A media analyst in the core team is often responsible for training a team of monitors. These will usually be nationals of the country concerned, because of the requirement that they have the necessary language skills, as well as an understanding of the local political scene. In addition their participation may increase the domestic skill base in media monitoring.

The value of incorporating media analysis into international EOMs is that this makes for a more comprehensive evaluation of the overall credibility of an election. For both media and election managers within the country, international media monitoring findings can be used as a comparison with the conclusions from domestic media monitoring, as well as providing benchmarks for media coverage of future elections.