By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The electoral management body of Ghana, the Electoral Commission (EC), says it expects the various media outlets to give the commission fair and accurate reportage on its activities before, during, and after the 2024 general elections.
According to the Director of Electoral Services, Electoral Commission, Mr. Benjamin Bano-Bioh, the EC will rely on the media for dissemination of information on elections (public/voter education).
Addressing Editors drawn from the various media houses in the Greater Accra Region at a day’s media engagement put together by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) dubbed “Enhancing Media Capacity for Fact-Based Reporting and Countering Elections-Related Mis/Disinformation”, Mr. Bano-Bioh assured the participants that the commission will maintain a cordial relationship with the media in the performance of their respective duties.
´The EC has a responsibility to keep the media updated on how preparations are going, challenges it is facing, and any changes in scheduled dates for activities.
EC will expect fair reportage and avoidance of misinformation,” he reiterated.
The EC’s Director of Electoral Services also admonished reporters, editors, presenters, and show hosts to use the right terminologies when reporting on electoral issues. “For example, the use of ‘Fraud’ or ‘Rigging’ instead of irregularity,’ he added.
Irregularity, according to Mr. Bano-Bioh, refers to deviations of normal field practices from expected standards. This, he noted, may not necessarily have occurred with the intention of cheating the electoral system but as a result of inadvertence. ‘E.g., late arrival at a polling station by polling officials, etc.
“Fraud, on the other hand, refers to illegal acts. It also refers to acts of violation of the general principles of democracy. It deals with conduct with criminal intentions such as libel, coercion, and intimidation of opponents.
An electoral fraud is a deliberate act of interference with an election process in any way.
While rigging refers to an electoral fraud with the objective of gaining an electoral advantage. It involves acts of dishonesty in an election to get a particular outcome. And it basically has to do with a direct manipulation of a voting system in order to give an electoral advantage to a candidate or party,” the EC’s Director of Electoral Services explained.
In his welcome remarks, Dr. Kojo Impraim, Director, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), said engaging reporters, editors, presenters, and show hosts across Ghana forms part of efforts his outfit is making to strengthen the capacity of the Ghanaian media to help counter mis/disinformation especially before, during, and after the December 7, polls.
According to him, MFWA has already embarked on a series of media capacity-building interventions across the country.
“Our engagement today is one of such interventions aimed at enhancing the capacity and understanding of the media on the electoral processes to ensure fact-based reporting and programming.
The Regional engagements, Dr. Impraim believes, will offer a platform for the Electoral Commission to engage with journalists and explain to them the ongoing processes for the 7 December 2024 elections to enhance fact-based media reporting and programming.
The media capacity strengthening project is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom.
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