Having access to the media for election campaign purposes is an essential component of electoral
success. Since most voters can be reached through the mass media, ensuring that every candidate
has access to the media is essential. Because a mass media campaign can be expensive, and not
every party has the same amount of resources, ensuring equality of access is an important integrity
issue.
Most countries have addressed media access in their election law or related legislation and
regulations. Most systems require the media to grant access to anyone with the means to pay for
the advertisement. Some also require the media to provide equal time for all candidates. Some
systems provide public funds or free airtime to help even out the parties' ability to afford media
time (see Public Funding of Campaigns). Eligibility requirements for equal time, or public
funds for broadcasting, can be based on how the political party is categorized during its
registration and other factors, such as the percentage of the vote it won in previous elections, or
the number of elected seats it has in government.
Equal Access and Treatment
Most election laws or regulations require equal access and treatment to those wishing to
broadcast election advertisements.
In New Zealand, for example, the law 'prohibits a broadcaster from offering or giving to any political party
terms for broadcasting time that are more favourable than those offered or given to any other
party
for comparable time. That section also prohibits a broadcaster from offering or giving to any
candidate terms for broadcasting time that are more favourable than those offered or given to any
other candidate for comparable time.'
177
Equal terms for access may not guarantee equal treatment. In a crowded field of competing
candidates and parties, which candidates get to go on the air first-- or last? Is there enough time
for all the candidates' advertisements to air in the official campaign period, or for the voters to be
able to absorb these messages? What time slots are the candidates allotted and when in the
campaign? Even if candidates have equal airtime, do they have equal or timely access to
the production resources needed to make their advertisements?
Public Allocation or Funding of Airtime
Even if equal access is provided, parties will differ in their ability to pay for the advertisements.
To even out these differences, most systems try to provide either public funding for campaigning
or free airtime provided by public broadcasting systems. This requires an equitable formula to divide the
resources or airtime and can be based on how a political party has been categorized by the electoral
management body (for more on this see Party Registration and Public Funding of Campaigns). Once a reasonable formula is decided, it must also be fairly applied in practice.
For instance, in Canada, the Chief Electoral Officer appoints a Broadcasting Arbitrator. The Broadcasting
Arbitrator allocates paid and free broadcasting time for political parties during the elections according to a formula established by law. In India, the Election Commission provides all
national and state parties free access to the state owned electronic media on an extensive scale for
their campaigns. The commission allocates 122 free hours equitably by combining a base limit
and additional time linked to poll performance of the party in recent elections.
178
In New Zealand, parties are prohibited from using their own funds to buy radio or television time
to broadcast election programmes. 179 Instead, the Broadcasting Act of 1980 provides for an allocation of free or discounted
election broadcasting time on radio and TV during the official election period. This includes
broadcasting the opening and closing addresses of political party leaders on national television and
radio.180 To qualify, political
parties must have been registered at least three months before the dissolution of Parliament, or
have at least five candidates nominated. The allocation of free time is based on a number of
criteria including how many people voted for that party in previous elections, popular support for
the party as shown in opinion polls and party membership figures, and the number of MPs
belonging to that party at the time of dissolution. 181
Enforcement of Access
There are countries that protect equal access of the media through legislation and regulations, which also have mechanisms to ensure
that they are enforced. This enforcement is needed to ensure that the intent and provisions
of the legislation are applied in practice. Enforcement differs according to the system and the
legal requirements. In the case of New Zealand, for example, the law requires every broadcaster to provide the Electoral
Commission with a 'complete and accurate' report on all election programmes broadcast for parties
and candidates during the election period. The report has to include:
- the candidate or political party for whom, of for which, each election programme was
broadcast;
- the length of each election programme and the time at which it was broadcast; and
- the amount paid for the broadcasting of each election programme and the rate or rates by
which the amount was fixed.182
In most systems, civil law enables parties or candidates who believe they have not been given
equal access or treatment by broadcasters to take those broadcasters to civil court. Criminal
violations of the laws would be handled separately through the criminal justice system.
