MMU code of conduct…Safety of journalists, equitable access raised as issues

Feb 19, 2015 News

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With general elections drawing nearer, the code of conduct for the resuscitated Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) was signed yesterday. There were several amendments to the previous media code, including the

need to ensure the safety of journalists during the election.
Equitable share of election coverage and access to all political parties was also an area that was addressed during the two-day workshop, sponsored by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that led to the production of the media code.
The two-day forum concluded with several media houses signing the code of conduct. According to Dr. Paloma Mohamed, facilitator of the workshop, the code had previously placed emphasis on the safety of the state during and after elections.
However, she said there was a noted shift in this emphasis and serious considerations were now being made towards the safety of journalists, owners, editors and private persons. These concerns were also raised during discussions and saw an extension of the safety net beyond the state.
“Before, the code spoke really to the safety of the state and in the discussions that we had over the last few days, the increasing concern for journalists themselves, owners and editors for their own safety and the safety of individuals was high on the agenda; so we expanded the meaning of safety beyond the state,” she explained.
In terms of equity, Mohamed said there is a need for journalists to have assured access to all parties even in the post-election period. Further, in the code of conduct it is written that the state and private media acknowledge the obligation, in the interest of evenhandedness, for all political parties, electoral groupings and independent candidates to provide an equitable share of election coverage to all registered parties.
This equity should amount to a minimum equal allocation of time or space of five minutes per week in the case of radio and television broadcasts. In the case of the print media, 200 words per week should be aspired to. Anything exceeding the minimum must be matched for all eligible parties, the code of conduct emphasized.
Dr. Mohamed added that an extension of the period of coverage of monitoring was being looked at. She said that it was discussed and decided upon that the key tenets of the code can be extended beyond the elections period.
She said they also recognized that during the post-elections period many delicate matters are brought to the fore. “There are sensitive moments when we really need to be on our P’s and Q’s so we have extended and refined the period during which the code has to be applied,” she added.
Other areas of concern included the need for internet media sites to be monitored by the MMU. According to Mohamed, stakeholders were very concerned with what happens online. They noted that every country in the world was quickly grasping at social and digital media.
She said that the same concerns which govern the more traditional media forms now apply to online media. Media operatives have now begun to think about how to address these concerns, particularly around elections time.
Cable had also been noted to have “escaped regulations” and is now being included in the group of media which need to be addressed.
Dr. Mohamed said that a critical change had been made to the code through the inclusion of a glossary of terms and definitions. The glossary seeks to clarify a number of ideas and concepts that are embedded in the code.
These include incitement, political advertising, and what constitutes defamatory speech. Special attention was also paid to hate speech and the definition of the term was expanded, Mohamed added.
She said the MMU is currently unable to extensively cover the entire country. She expressed the hope that continuous assessment of media across the country would be aspired towards.
There was also a call for the independent referee panel from the 2006 election to be reinstated and reconstituted for the upcoming election.
Dr. Mohamed explained that the call came following the panel’s resounding success in the previous election. “We recognize that even though the MMU’s role is to monitor, the role is really not to impose or referee or to deal with anything that is beyond the scope of monitoring and reporting what they see,” she said.
GECOM Chairman Dr. Steve Surujbally, explained that the members of this panel will not be chosen by GECOM but rather by media operatives themselves.

Above the political frame
As the time draws nearer for the functioning of the MMU, Surujbally urged the members to remain above the political fray and to put aside biases.
Dr. Surujbally further said the MMU will not hesitate to come down hard on those who step out of line.
There are just about 10 members of the MMU and these persons are all graduates of the University of Guyana. Further, most of them are holders of degrees in Communication Studies while some had previously been media operatives.
“You are working as a commission with steadfastness to truth. You will at the end of the day…come up with an answer that shows that you have been taught well and you are exercising your judgment,” Surujbally said.
He continued, “I would like you to not have any work to do…and nothing to caution about.”
Surujbally noted that in 2001 “the ink wasn’t dry” when the MMU was breached. Since then, he said, conduct by media operatives had improved in the subsequent elections. For this improvement, he congratulated previous members and said he hoped the new members would make his job easier.
Before actual monitoring commences, the members are expected to undergo several training sessions where they will learn how to interpret and implement their new found knowledge. The date from which the MMU will start monitoring will be revealed by GECOM to all media houses within a week.

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