The question of who is or is not a practising journalist is one best left to journalists' organizations - although many governments, through the Information Ministry or similar body, have a system for accrediting journalists. Whatever the merits of these different systems, however, some accreditation system is required for journalists in elections. This is because the media will be entitled to attend events - such as the voting itself or the count - that will not be open to ordinary members of the public.
The preferable system for accreditation of journalists in elections is one that is conducted by the electoral supervisory body or the media regulatory body (if they differ) in conjunction with each other. Accreditation should be available to all representatives of local, national and international news organizations on production of credible identification (see also Foreign Media). The accrediting authority should have no discretion to refuse credentials to any bona fide news representative.
The nature of the credentials issued should be agreed upon with the police or any other body responsible for security in the elections, as well as with electoral staff. These credentials would usually consist of a laminated photocard, clearly identifying the bearer as a media representative. These arrangements should also be made known to the political parties, who would be expected to ensure that their members and supporters facilitated (and did not impede) access by anyone bearing these credentials (see also Journalists' Right of Access to Election Events and Measures to Protect Journalists).
When the approximate date of an election is known in advance, accreditation of most local journalists can be organized well in advance to avoid last-minute delays. There should be no limit on the number of media personnel issued with accreditation. News organizations have no obligation to limit the number of journalists who are accredited, although it would be reasonable for organizers of an event to limit the numbers from a particular news organization if that is necessary to secure access for the widest range of media.
Although a photocard - visible evidence of accreditation - is no doubt useful at many public events connected with elections, this should only be required as a precondition for attendance in two circumstances:
- when the security of the electoral process is at stake - as at the voting or the count
- when logistics determine that only a limited number of journalists can have access.
In the latter case, it will be up to the journalists themselves to operate a pool system, whereby they will select which of their representatives attend an event and they then share the information gathered.
In other words, accreditation is for the most part an administrative tool that only very occasionally has a security dimension. In general, the principle that anyone can have access to the public electoral process and write or broadcast about it is the paramount one.
