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Media Monitoring Unit needs enforcement powers – Carter Centre
“There is much room for improvement in the work of the media-monitoring unit (MMU), as it lacks any power to sanction or discipline the media actors in any way.” This is the position of the Carter Centre which has finalised
The Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) is an arm of the Guyana Elections Commission
its report on the 2015 General and Regional Elections.
According to the report, without the power to sanction media operatives for breaching journalistic codes, the MMU could not have done anything substantial during the 2015 elections where a number of media entities appeared partisan in their election coverage.
The Carter Centre said that the tone of some coverage was sensationalist and aimed at reaffirming the narrative of a particular party. Not denying that there was a diverse range of content and opinion across the media, the report said that very little of it was neutral and unbiased.
“Daily newspapers carried multiple pages of advertisements from political parties. Further, there were many allegations that state media were biased in favour of the ruling party (The People’s Progressive Party Civic).”
The report noted that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) operates the MMU to facilitate the maintenance of a media environment that is conducive to the democratic process.
It was recalled that the Unit was created in 2001 and strengthened in 2006. Among its activities is the daily monitoring of the nation’s mainstream print and broadcast media to ensure that they conform to established best practices that are associated with professional journalism.
Further, it was noted that the MMU is tasked with informing media practitioners of instances of breaches in a timely manner and producing periodic reports on the Unit’s findings on how compliant are media practitioners.
However, it is the view of the elections observer that this monitoring will go in vain since the Unit is not empowered to sanction media operatives who violate the regulations that apply to them.
It was mentioned in the report that the most media personnel are required to do is sign a self-regulatory Media Code of Conduct (MCC) which is to guide coverage and report on election-related issues.
“The code aimed to contain media excesses and to assist in levelling the political playing field by encouraging balanced, equitable and fair coverage of the campaigns of all political parties.”
The report said that while the MMU has been a positive contribution, there is much room for improvement in its role and work. “Consideration should be given to strengthening the unit before future elections, particularly regarding its power to establish rules for conduct and professionalism and sanction or discipline media.”
Following the May 2015 elections, the MMU had released a report whereby three newspapers along with a programme aired on CNS TV were criticised for breaching the MCC.
Prior to the May 2015 elections, then Chairman of GECOM, Dr Steve Surujbally, had said that a lot was done to resuscitate the MMU. A training exercise was planned for February of that year for local media operatives as it relates to covering the elections. This was done in addition to the media representatives signing the code of conduct.
During the 2015 elections process the Carter Centre was led by its founder former President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, Dame Audrey Glover of the United Kingdom and Dame Billie Miller of Barbados. On Election Day 53 observers hailing from 236 countries made visits to 297 polling stations in all 10 of the Administrative Regions.
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