Covering the elections
May 10, 2010 12:11 pm Additional ResourcesAlthough the country has had several elections since the collapse of the Marcos dictatorship, and many look at elections as of no particular significance to the country’s present or future, the elections of 10 May 2010 do depart from others in several respects. The country is holding its first nationwide automated elections today; some 50,000 candidates are vying for nearly 18,000 national and local government posts; and with a population of about 90 million, over 50 million are registered voters. The majority of these are not only young; they also belong to the legions of the poor, those sectors of Philippine society with, as it were, the biggest stakes in the kind of leadership the country elects.
Despite the lessons of experience, perhaps out of naivete or the hope bred of desperation, Filipinos continue to look to the ballot as an instrument of change and reform. Despite fraud, terrorism and vote buying, elections are the one thing on which citizens supposedly have a direct influence on the results—affording them the chance to reject leaders who have not addressed their needs and aspirations, and installing into power in the place of the corrupt and the incompetent those that they hope will finally provide them the competent and honest government that has eluded them since independence.
The role of the media takes on larger significance in a situation both full of hope as well as disappointment. Information that’s both accurate as well as significant is the one imperative citizens need to meaningfully participate in public affairs. How the news media particularly do their jobs is of special relevance to how well citizens are able to choose the country’s leaders.
Providing meaningful and accurate information depends not only on the skills of individual reporters and editors. Their understanding and adherence to the ethical standards of journalism are also crucial. A journalist may be skilled, but if he or she is corrupt, and in the pay of this or that politician, he or she actually undermines the information function of the news media by providing information skewed in favor of his or her patrons.
A number of online sites focus on the ethical coverage of elections.
Aside from the Journalist’s Code of Ethics, the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), for example, has also developed guidelines for journalist covering elections. The PPI guidelines consist of the following do’s and don’ts: (The guidelines are specifically for newspapers. Eye on Ethics has paraphrased certain sections of the guidelines whenever they apply to other media.)
A. Pay your way
1. The media organization must cover the cost of coverage during the election campaign and count, including the dining expenses of sources of stories, as well as the airfare, hotel accommodation, per diem and operations expenses of staff members assigned to political parties and candidates.
The PPI prohibition against accepting transportation and accommodations from political parties and candidates excludes transport services and common rooming accommodations arranged by political parties for all members of the media.
2. Staff members shall clear with their supervising editors invitations from candidates or political parties to join out-of-town or overseas coverage of events, so the newspaper/media organization may appropriate the necessary budget for them if these are newsworthy events.
B. Do not accept cash or gifts in kind from politicians and political parties.
1. All editors, reporters, photographers, columnists, artists and other staff members must reject all attempts of candidates or political parties to bribe them with cash or in kind. Newspapers are encouraged to expose such attempts, whether consummated or aborted, so as identify the culpable parties and to promptly return the bribe or donate it to charity with the appropriate documentation.
C. Do not moonlight with political parties.
1. No staff member should be allowed to work on a part-time, full-time or contractual basis with any political party or candidate.
2. Staff members shall be discouraged from inviting candidates to stand as godparents in baptisms, weddings and other church rites, or as godfathers in the employment of relatives or friends.
D. Beware of surveys.
1. Statistical data derived from polling and surveying are especially susceptible to misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misuse. Media organizations should clearly distinguish between scientific polls and nonscientific surveys such as readers’ call-ins or write-ins and person-in-the-street interviews that are reported in statistical terms. This must be done in a way that is likely to be understood by the average reader, including the headlines and graphics.
- In using scientific polls, the sample size and the margin of error should be disclosed.
- In using non-scientific surveys, the manner in which they were taken and their limitations should be clearly explained in print. Merely labeling a survey as “non-scientific” is not sufficient.
- Surveys that do not meet minimal scientific standards of validity and reliability should not be identified as polls, nor should they be portrayed in language suitable to scientific polls.
- Great caution should be used in employing non-scientific polls to address substantial questions of public policy or to describe the popularity or approval rating of public officials or public actions.
The Center for Media Freedom and Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) monitors the news media coverage of the 2010 campaign and elections. Aside from the components it monitored in previous elections, the CMFR 2010 monitor includes, for the first time ever, a monitor of community press coverage, particularly in Cebu, where the press has a strong institutional presence within a highly profitable and influential media market. CMFR’s 2010 project also monitors initiatives by civil society organizations and other sectors in ensuring the integrity and quality of the elections.
Sources:
Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
Philippine Press Institute
FACTBOX – Key facts about Philippine elections on May 10
http://www.mmc2000.net/docs/leggi/PHILIPPINES.pdf
