Journalists adopt election guidelines

GASABO - As preparations for the forthcoming elections intensify, media practitioners in the country Friday approved regulations to which the media will be bound during the elections. The parliamentary elections are set for September 15 but the regulations will remain for all future elections. During a meeting that was organized by the High Council of the Press (HCP), journalists unanimously adopted the document which is made up of 33 articles which were developed by a team of experts. This is the first time that the HCP set guidelines for the media during elections. “The reason we came up with this idea was because of the number of media houses that have significantly increased sincer the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections,” said Patrice Mulama, the Executive Secretary of the HCP. All privately owned radio stations came into existence after these elections when the state owned Radio Rwanda monopolised the airwaves. Mulama said that most of the regulations are found in different legal documents including the Penal Code and the Code of Ethics of media practitioners. The minister in the Prime Minister’s Office in charge of information opened the meeting which took place at hotel Novotel and reiterated the role of the media as the link between the state and the populace. “That is why you should always endeavour to report objectively during this period giving equal forum to candidates during campaigns,” said Minister Louise Mushikiwabo. She promised government assistance to the media especially ensuring security for journalists during this period. The experts who developed the regulations requested that the government provide media outlets with financial and technical assistance. “This will help in enforcing objectivity because some candidates with a financial muscle may use it to morally and materially corrupt media houses which lack capacity,” said Gerard Mfuranzima, a Burundian national who is one of the experts. He also called upon media houses to pool resources and form a synergy which will help them access information from different parts of the country where a single media outlet cannot finance its journalists to go.The electoral campaigns are set to begin on August 25, 20 days prior to the elections. HCP chairman Ignatius Kabagambe said that the media regulatory body is preparing a series of trainings to journalists in preparation for the elections. Ends