The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) Ghana has commended state-owned radio station Uniiq FM and state-owned newspaper Daily Graphic for providing equitable electoral coverage to the two main political parties during the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
The Mission led by its Chief Observer, Javier Nart, a Member of the European Parliament said state-owned Uniiq FM allocated 34.2 and 28.6 per cent of its airtime to the NPP and NDC while the Daily Graphic allocated 29.9 per cent and 26.5 per cent of space to the NPP and opposition NDC during the electoral coverage.
The EU EOM which has been present in Ghana since November 1, 2020, following an invitation from Government and the Electoral Commission in a statement noted that both media houses devoted additional coverage of government inaugurations and projects.
The statement noted that although the state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation provided a fair opportunity to all flagbearers through various programmes, its media monitoring found that GBC favoured the NPP by allocating it 26.2 per cent of airtime in its election-related news and programmes, compared to 15.8 per cent to the NDC.
It further noted that the NPP and its presidential candidate benefited from extensive additional coverage on GTV through news and live broadcasts of inaugurations and projects launched by the President or government representatives, often including campaign songs and messages.
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