REPORT OF LAUNCH AND POPULARISATION WORKSHOP FREETOWN

INDEPENDENT MEDIA COMMISSION LAUNCH AND POPULARIZATION OF THE ELECTIONS COVERAGE, REPORTING REGULATIONS

27^TH MARCH, 2023

RAADISSON BLU MAMMY YOKO HOTEL FREETOWN

 

An event organized by the Independent Media Commission (IMC) with support from International IDEA and funding from the European Union

Rapporteur’s Report

By Edward Bailor-Rapporteur

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2. SUMMARY OF THE STATEMENTS BY MEDIA DIGNITARIES
3. SUMMARY OF KEY NOTE ADDRESS OF THE HON. MINISTER OF MIC.
4. SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS OF THE PRESENTATIONS, KEY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS DURING THE PLENARY SESSIONs

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The launch and popularization of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations’ event was one of the many activities that IMC and other election partners have organized in the country to prepare and strategically positioned the media and all stakeholders for the June 4^th 2023 general election coverage and reporting.  The event in the Western Area of Freetown was the beginning of a national wide planned sensitization efforts to bring information on the contents of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations to the general public.  The launching comprised of two sessions. The first session consisted of the opening courtesies, including: the arrival and registrations of participants and at around 8:30, the opening session at about 9:50 am, Muslim and Christian prayers offered by Sheik Ibrahim Barrie and the Christian prayers by Rev. Father Victor Suma respectively for the commencement of the event. This was followed by the introduction of the chairperson, Mrs. Ethel Jonson a commissioner of IMC and statements by Media dignitaries present at the meeting.

The dignities present at the launch included representative of International IDEA, National Election Watch (NEW), Guild of Editors, Independent Radio Network (IRN) and Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAJ). Kindly, note that the National Electoral Commission (NEC) was also on the list to make a statement but was not present at the lunch. Afterwards, the key note address and launching of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations was done by the Honorable Minister of Information and Communications (MIC), Mohamed Rahman Swaray. This was followed by a vote of thanks and the Tea break.

After about thirty minutes of Tea break, the second session started with presentations by Dr. Francis Sowa consultant facilitator. The five topics in the presentations on the guidelines, included:

• Interpretations and general guidelines for media coverage and reporting
• Election media coverage and reporting
• General elections media coverage and reporting guidelines
• Complaint and enforcement procedures
• Offenses

After the presentations, the event proceeded to the plenary session where the floor was open for questions and answers from the participants and IMC and this brought the first session and the lunch of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations to a close.

 

SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS OF THE STATEMENTS BY MEDIA DIGNITARIES

The call for media houses to be responsible and professional in their coverages and reports of elections was reechoed throughout all the statements of the media dignitaries present at the launch.

Firstly, we had the representative of International IDEA, Mr Tawanda who was the first person that made a statement at the event.  In his opening remarks, he told the gathering that the main purpose for which International IDEA was formed was to support democracy worldwide. He informed the gathering that International IDEA has an MOU with IMC to enhance the capacity of the Commission in its media regulation role. He then went further to outlined some of the main challenges facing the media landscape in the Sierra Leone and the motivation for International IDEA to partner with IMC. The goal of International IDEA for the partnership, he said, was to support IMC in their promotion of democracy in Sierra Leone.

Some of the challenges currently facing the media landscape in the country that he highlighted were: the lack of clarity in media coverage and reporting on elections, media poverty and the timely provision and availability of support needed by the media to do their work efficiently. It was against that background, according to Mr Tawanda, that International IDEA is providing the support to IMC to strengthen the capacity of the media to do their work efficiently. He encouraged the journalists to be professional in their work.    

Next in line to make his statement was the current chairman of IMC, Dr. Victor Massaquoi. He said, when he took over the leadership of IMC, the institution was in “agony”.   Quoting proverbs 22:29, he referenced the type of diligence that he has demonstrated to transform the institution. According to Dr. Massaquoi, at the time he took leadership, the institution was faced with many challenges, that is why he said the was in agony. The challenges he said ranged from poor working environment, low staff morale and frequent delays in the transfer of government subsidies for the effective running of the institution. But through his hard work and his staff, many of the challenges he inherited have been addressed. He expressed happiness for the launching of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations and thanked International IDEA and the European Union for their support. He further reiterated the professionalism of the guidelines and ended his statement by admonishing the journalists and members of all the media houses present at the event to read and apply the guidelines in their daily work and not to allow anyone to tamper with your jobs and professionalism during the elections.

In addition, the representative of National Election Watch (NEW), Mr. Keff Kobba also made his statement.  At the beginning, he thanked International IDEA, the European Union and the IMC leadership for their commitment to improving the work of the media environment and the implementation of election observation missions recommendations. He acknowledged the crucial role that the media will play in the coverage and reporting of elections and encouraged every journalist to be independent and not allowed political interference. He reminded the participants about how irresponsible or bias journalism during elections can lead to serious conflicts that will undermine the peace and development of the country.  He further reminded participants to remember how failure of state institutions to perform their duties effectively in the past contributed to the almost 12 years’ rebel brutal and annihilating rebel war in the country, he warned.

Mr. Keff Kobba also recounted how NEW has been recently accused falsely by some media houses for election bias. He said the issue was addressed after NEW took up the matter with the media houses and asked them to apologize, which they did. Against this background, he encouraged all journalists and media houses present at the event to create level playing grounds for all political parties to compete equally during campaigning for the elections. He praised IMC for the degree of independence that they have demonstrated and encouraged them to continue. At the end, Mr. Keff Kobba, commended IMC as being one of the institutions that has implemented about 80% of the 2018 election observer recommendations that concerned institution. This, he said was discovered after NEW made a visit to IMC to follow up on the implementation of the 106 recommendations by 18 institutions.

Furthermore, continuing the statements was the representative of the Guild of Editors Mr. Theo Harding. In his opening, he stood on existing protocols and also spoke about how poverty in the media and negative reporting is affecting our society. Therefore, he solicited for more support for the media. In addition, he thanked IMC and the donors for the good work they were doing in the country and admonished Journalists to take the training seriously as it is something that the social media does not offer. He also recounted how some journalists were beaten in the last elections due to bad reporting.

In addition, the Director of the Independent Radio Network, Mr. Ransford Wright, in his statement started by thanking IMC for the inclusive process that used by the institution to put together the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations. Against this background, he said he was sure that every media house or journalist present at the meeting was aware of the contents of the documents. IRN reported that they have over 500 reporters across the nation and the institution also have its codes of conduct that guide journalist during elections and that will serve as a backup for the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations done by IMC. Continuing, Mr. Ransford Wright encouraged IMC to implement the guidelines without any bias. The sensitization of the guidelines, he said was not only for journalists, but for all citizens.

The fact that Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and therefore the media should uphold the highest standards of professionalism and accountability were emphasized at the opening statements of the president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalist (SLAG), Mr. Ahmed Sahid Nasralla. He further spoke about the emerging technology in the media which journalists should be mindful of and also lambasted journalists that take sides in their coverages and reporting regardless of their degree of qualifications. He also advised Journalists to make sure that they always provide for citizen’s credible information as that will promote the public image of the press. “This is the first time SLAJ is approaching elections as a consortium” the chairman said. According to him he was very happy that IMC is collaborating with the media and also said the support that SLAJ has received under the current Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government has never happened with any other government in the history of the institution. To emphasize professionalism in the media, he said international journalists play politics with professionalism and advised Journalists in the hall to do the same. In addition, he also informed the participants about the support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Sierra Leone to set an information verification system for the June 24^th 2023 elections.

However, he complained that the media is often left out of planning processes for elections organized by institutions like the National Electoral Commission when it comes to planning for elections. He reiterated the important role that the media can play during such processes. He requested that the media be included in such processes next time there are elections. He also complained that support for the media for elections often come very late and SLAJ is often under pressure to implement the activities as is right now with the June, 24^th 2023 elections.  He ended by reiterating professionalism for the media as they carry out their work.

 

SUMMARY OF THE KEY NOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONORABLE MINISTER, MOHAMED RAHMAN SWARAY OF MIC AND THE LAUNCHING OF THE ELECTIONS COVERAGE AND REPORTING REGULATIONS.

The keynote address for the lunch of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations was given by Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swaray. He spoke the need to prepare for the June 24^th, 2023 elections. The task, he said is a huge one and state institutions like the IMC and partners must be prepared to perform their functions well.

 He kicked started his key note address on an unusual note, he said.  He drew the attention of IMC to a letter of complaint that He wrote to them complaining a media institution that made a negative publication against the government of Sierra Leone for which IMC did not reply. “When I wrote the letter complaining the media house that wrote the negative publication against government, I waited patiently for over a month and IMC did not reply”, he said much to his displeasure.  He reminded the participants that the government did not take any action against the media house. “I know the media house that wrote the negative publication against government is represented here”, he emphasized.  He used the incident to project the good image of the government with media over the period of their rule. “up to this moment I can proudly say that, there is no journalist is behind bars as a result of reckless publication” he affirmed and bluffed about it. Continuing, the Hon. Minister also addressed the current IMC Chairman, Dr. Victor Massaguoi who had earlier said in his statement that, the general working conditions at the IMC was bad when he took leadership. However, the Hon. Minster also said he was very happy to hear that about eighty percent of the challenges have been addressed. He praised the Commission for the reforms and commended the current IMC management for their good work.

In addition, the Hon. minister also informed the participants that Sierra Leone was a member of 5 global media coalitions and a vibrant private sector. Even though according to the Hon. Minister it was the president who should have declared it, he took the chance to declare the president’s plan for a public interest media. The Hon.  Minister said he hoped that the discussions at the Elections Coverage and Reporting Regulations launch would contribute positively towards a better covering and reporting of the June 24^th 2023 elections. He appealed to the media to report and cover the elections in fair and transparent ways.  He ended his key note by launching the Election Coverage and Reporting Regulations and the Print and Electronic Media Regulation, marking the launch the beginning of a nationwide popularization /sensitization of guidelines for elections coverage and reporting.

 

SUMMARY OF THE MAIN POINTS OF THE PRESENTATIONS AND QUESTIONS RAISED AND RESPONDED TO DURING THE PLENARY SESSIONS

The second session after the lunch break started with power point presentations of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Guidelines by Dr. Francis Sowa Consultant Facilitator and Commissioners of the IMC. The presentations were divided into four parts and these were: (I) Elections media Coverage and reporting (II) General elections media coverage and reporting guidelines (III) Complaints and enforcement procedures and (IV) Offences.

The presentations were projected and important sections in the Coverage and Reporting Guidelines that were emphasized.   The one point that was emphasized to the participants during the presentations was that, even though there are other IMC guideline and codes of conduct for media practitioner, anybody who appears before the IMC compliant Commission after the launch of Elections Coverage and Reporting Guidelines, he or she will be judged by the guidelines and the resolutions apply only to media practitioners and media institutions in Sierra Leone. For example, some of the sections of the guidelines that were really emphasized during the presentations were the sections on promoting or inciting “racial, ethnic or regional hatred, bias or contempt”, providing equal editorial spaces for all political parties, the publications of political manifestos and inclusion of female sources in news, in order to ensure gender sensitive reporting.

Participants were asked to use political manifestos as points of constructive national discussions and debates and not to attack the personality of political opponents.  Participants were also advised against editing the political advertisements of political parties, rather, if a political party brings an advert to a press that adverts violates any section of the Elections Coverage and Reporting Guidelines, the press must tell the individual to make the necessary amends in favour of good taste. These sections and related sections were emphasized because they have the potentials to cause conflicts during the elections. The legal framework within which complaints made and addressed also formed part of the presentations.

Some of the questions that were raised during the plenary sessions have to do:

Firstly, with conflict of interest of media houses; that is when an important stakeholder(s) of a media house is/are also politician (s).

Secondly, participants wanted to know how IMC will deal with media houses like “WE Yone Newspaper” and “Unity Newspaper” when they are owned by the two leading political parties, the APC and the SLPP.

 

Thirdly, participation wanted to know how to deal with the problem of incumbency. That is, if for example a president in power come to a media house and ask for airtime like twenty hours before the polling day.

In their response, the IMC made it very clear to participants that “WE Yone Newspaper” and “Unity Newspaper” are not registered with them as political Party newspapers. They are registered by private individuals and it is the right of every Sierra Leoneans to own and register a media house. So if the two Newspapers violate any IMC guideline, they will be treated as such. Again, IMC response to the other questions was the professionalism of a journalist should override his/her conflict of interest and incumbency of political leaders when they do their jobs.

 

Compiled and submitted by

Edward Bailor

Consultant Rapporteur

 

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