In a well-managed election the supervisory body has every interest in ensuring the maximum flow of information to the media. There are fundamentally two reasons for this:
- First, because informing the media is informing the public - and a constant flow of information enables the electorate to exercise their democratic rights, as well as retaining their confidence in the whole election process.
- Second, because the media will write about the election, whether the supervisory body likes it or not. It is in everyone's interest if the material that appears in the media is as accurate as possible.
Consequently, the electoral supervisory body will have to devote some resources to information management, above and beyond the role that it plays in media regulation.
The fundamental principles of media management in an election situation are these:
- The election administration will make available the maximum amount of information, barring only that information whose disclosure would compromise the integrity of the election process.
- All information that the election administration releases will be accurate, to the best of its knowledge.
- Information will be released on a non-discriminatory basis to all media, regardless of their ownership or political loyalty.
The significance of these principles is that if they are breached, the objectives of informing the electorate and maintaining its confidence in the process will be damaged, sometimes irreparably. In new democracies, with a history of tight government censorship or control over the flow of information, these principles may represent a break with old habits. But the temptation to hold back information, or to provide it selectively to favoured journalists, is one that electoral officials must resist.
A practical problem, whether in a new democracy or an old one, is ensuring the consistency of information emanating from the electoral supervisory body. The appointment of a press officer, or creation of a media department, will be a way of ensuring both that the authority speaks with a single voice and that the media know where to go to find the information that they need.
The main techniques that can be used to keep the media informed are these:
