Opening address of elections reporting workshop in Mzuzu

·        Our lead facilitator, Dr Zeleza Manda and all facilitators

·        Distinguished Participants

·        Ladies and Gentlemen

Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Mr Harris Potani delivering
the opening address, October 2, 2013

I should start by saying that am delighted to be here and offer a few remarks before the start of this workshop. This is the third training that the Commission is organizing for the media as part of capacity building ahead of the Tripartite Elections in 2014.

The media are a crucial partner in elections and as Malawi Electoral Commission we are eager to see to it that our partners are discharging their roles in a professional and excellent manner and that any competency gaps should be addressed. That is why we have lined up a number of training workshops aiming at equipping our stakeholders with knowledge and skills.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the training starting today is very important and in the next two and half days we will need your maximum attention for you to get a certificate at the end.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to talk about the responsibility of the media in ensuring that we have free, fair and credible elections. Because the media reach out to a wider audience within a short time, you have a critical role of bringing electoral information to the public. You need to do this in a manner that does not disadvantage or project any contestant. Otherwise, if the media do not offer a level playing field for all contestants, this approach can easily undermine all the efforts by the Malawi Electoral Commission and all stakeholders to have free, fair and credible elections next year. This would be a disservice to the Malawian populace.

As the media you also have a responsibility of building a well informed electorate that is motivated and interested to participate in elections.

As we are in elections period, may I also appeal to you to exercise reason and rationale in your reporting. Elections are an emotive exercise because of what is at stake.  No one goes into an election expecting to lose although the fact still stands out that there will always be only one winner in an election. You should be cautious that the material you broadcast or publish does not perpetrate hostility, violence, aggression, hatred, tribalism, unrest, conflict or anything that falls in this class. Examples abound world over where media, without exercising caution in their reportage have fueled electoral disputes resulting in civil unrests and loss of life. The Rwandan genocide always stands out as a classical example. One of the radio presenters in Rwanda, Georges Henri Yvon Joseph Ruggiu, was sentenced to 12 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for inciting violence. And recently, during the previous elections in Kenya in 2007, the media had a portion of their blame for the aftermath violence that erupted . We would not want such scenarios for Malawi and that is why we are conducting trainings like this ones that will enable you report effectively about elections.

I should also urge you to be cautious on reporting opinion polls. We usually have pollsters surfacing during elections some of whom their credentials are very questionable and always come up with questionable poll statistics. We would urge you to question such characters before publicizing their results. Some of the opinions that are published, have potential impact of discouraging the electorate from participating in electoral activities and perpetuating voter apathy. Always ask them to disclose how they carried out their opinion polls, their sample size, who commissioned the opinion poll and when it was done. Few critical questions can unearth information that can help you establish whether an opinion poll was bogus or genuine.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Malawi Electoral Commission has taken a cycle approach to elections management, that is we are no longer treating elections as an event that takes place once every five years but as a cycle of five years. I also invite you to adopt the same cycle approach to your reporting about elections. It is common to see many journalists writing about elections, radios come up with special programes and newspapers coming up with special supplements during elections time. All these disappear after polling and determination of winners. With the electoral cycle approach, there will be many activities that will be happening in between the ballot that we will need you to publicise to the Malawian public.

People still need to be informed about electoral issues; those who attain voting age in between elections need to be educated about their right to vote and in all this we need the media. Your sustained reporting about electoral issues even after elections can greatly help counter voter apathy and maintain the interest of the electorate in election issues. That aside, you also have a responsibility on checking on elected officers to ensure that they are delivering what they promised the electorate during the campaign period.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not resume my seat without talking about the new media. Facebook, twitter, blogs and other platforms that have become effective and cost effective tools for communication. With the convergence of the media, we have already seen newspapers and radio stations setting up facebook pages. This just shows the influence that the social media platforms are gaining. I have also noted that some journalists have their own facebook pages and blogs where they post their material to share with the public. I should urge you to still apply your journalistic ethics and standards when using social media.

The media code of conduct is not suspended just because the material is being distributed through new media where we currently don’t have a legislation as a nation. Those with interactive platforms where readers can post comments ought to exercise care and responsibility that the comments being posted are palatable and that they could run in their papers or radio. If newspapers edit letters to the editor why should you not exercise the same with comments from readers for their online publications? Without curtailing freedom of expression, the media have a responsibility to ensure that there is sanity in the comments and feedback from readers that appears on the online publications.

It is now my hounor and privilege to declare this workshop opened. I wish you fruitful time and stay at this place.

Thank you very much

May God bless you all

May God Bless Our Nation