Professional and impartial campaign coverage is not something that can be imposed by a regulatory authority, whatever legal powers it may be endowed with. In effect, no authority can try to interfere with the editorial content of the media without undermining the whole basis of the media role as a public watchdog. Yet there is also clearly a public interest in encouraging coverage that meets the highest professional standards.
The key to this is the role of the professional bodies of the journalistic profession itself. Preferably representatives of these bodies should have been involved in drafting the regulations governing media election coverage in the first place (see Who Should Be Involved in the Drafting Process?).
Professional bodies come in a number of different types:
- Journalists' or broadcasters' associations
- Journalists' or broadcasters' trade unions
- Voluntary media councils
- Training institutions.
Voluntary media freedom groups may also fall into a similar category in some instances.
These professional bodies may have a role in accrediting journalists; they will almost certainly have a role in promoting their interests and professional standards.
In a number of instances professional bodies have developed codes of conduct that are specific to election issues. Once a code has been adopted, this will give a basis for action to be taken through any complaints or disciplinary mechanism that exists within the professional body.
The Tanzanian Media Council, for example, a voluntary association of media organs, convened a conference with the National Electoral Commission in advance of the 2000 parliamentary and presidential elections. This meeting drew up a code of conduct (see Tanzania: Media Code of Conduct), which not only provided guidance for journalists in a country with only a short experience of democratic electioneering. It also provided a baseline against which the media could be monitored - and indeed the Media Council, along with two other non-governmental organizations initiated a media monitoring project.
In Zimbabwe in the 2000 parliamentary elections, the procedure for drawing up a code of conduct was slightly different. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network was a grouping of NGOs supporting the electoral process in a variety of ways - voter education, monitoring etc - but also including the Electoral Supervisory Commission. A special committee of organizations with a media interest convened and drew up an election reporting handbook (see Zimbabwe: Code of Conduct and Reporting Handbook), which as well as including proposed guidelines on election coverage by the public broadcaster, also contained a code of conduct. The organizations endorsing this included the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. See Code of Conduct - Zimbabwe.
