SARAJEVO, 21.03.2018.-As said said at an international conference entitled “Free and fair media – honest elections ” that was held at Jahorina, in order to create a free, public and democratic space, in which citizens could freely express their political will, an impartial, objective and fair media approach to reporting on election campaigns of political subjects is important.
Providing a democratic environment for elections means the contribution of relevant institutions and actors of civil society, especially the media, in order to bring the electoral process closer to citizens and the public interest, “said Vladimir Pandurević, program manager from the EU Delegation to BiH.
The role of public services as well as other media is extremely important during the election campaign period. The media are tasked with informing citizens objectively and impartially about the election campaign of political entities, in order to allow them to freely express their electoral will, “said the Chairman of the Strategic Committee of the “Coalition for fair and free elections” Vehid Šehić, adding that unfortunately, election day is more like extraordinary state, and not as a day when citizens use their constitutional right to choose and be elected – a holiday of democracy and human rights.
Regulators and electoral process in BiH and the region
During the election campaign the regulators represent a significant independent mechanism for securing the professional work of the media, which shall include objective, impartial, balanced and fair reporting, both in BiH and other countries in our region.
„In order for something to be fair and free, precondition is that the spectator can form hir/her critcal opinion“, said the representer of the Electronical media regulator in Serbia Goran Petrović, and added that since the year 2000 a law envisaged body that would be in charge of issues such as equality and personal protection in Serbia was not formed.
Helena Mandić from the Regulatory Agency for Communication BiH pointed out that interventions of these instituions a re constant since 2006, as though the pre-election campaign lasts the whole time. „Those official months of pre-election campaign is the easiest part for us, because most of the voter-related activities take place over those months. Very rarely in this period there are excessive situations“, said Mandić.
„Regardless of who is the bearer of media surveillance and control at the time of the election process, it is important to provide professional reporting, fair allocation of media space to political subjects, transparency in the financing of political campaigns“, said Stanislav Bender, the leader of the Sector for surveillance and monitoring of program contents from the Agency for Electronic Media of the Republic of Croatia, and added that sometimes survey’s and researches are used for propaganda and manipulations.
Impact the abstainers through media
The main features of the previous election cycles, according to research, are the constant and rapid reduction of election content in the total number of media content, the almost identical media program for general and local elections, and the lack of analytical and innovative approaches.
“Mainly coverage of candidates and parties and their pre-election activities is reported, and much less reporting on party programs and the public interest. In addition, it is noteworthy that the favors of political subjects are even by public utilities, “said the general secretary of the BH journalists Association Borka Rudić.
Benjamin Butković, editor of BHT-a, pointed out that the independency of the PBS’s is questionable because of the unsolved system of finacing, while simultaneously from the legislative level, voters are sent a message that they do not need to pay RTV fee.
Butković thinks that there is no such kind of program that can change the opinion of the permanent voters of the ruling parties, and that the media can try to reach the abstainers and thus influence the final election results. “The production of political debates is an adventure that is largely unsuccessful, as all key candidates for high positions are avoiding confrontation with counter-candidates,” he said.
Senad Omerašević, Director of the Information Program of the Hayat TV believes that there are media professionals working in the media community. “We need to be proud of those media professionals who work professionally and in the public interest, who do not follow a line of lesser resistance to money and positions that respect ethical standards and laws,” said Omerasević
Dragoljub Petrović from the daily newspaper “Danas” that is being published in Serbial says that the readiness of the press declined due to the expansion of online media, which diminished the importance of this media format. “Social networks are good for communication, but the problem of filtering news. What distinguishes traditional media is the editorial board. You can get information from social media if you have a certain media sensibility, which is not the case for most voters, “he said.
The Coalition for free and fair Elections „Pod lupom“ determined through monitoring and analyzing the election campaign the massive occurrence of the use of public funds for the purpose of participating in the election campaigns of their political parties, which should be avoided by law and by-laws.
Emilija Orestijević from the Center for free elections and democracy in Serbia said that the electoral process in this country is fraught with major irregularities that undermine citizens’ confidence in the electoral process itself. She pointed out that a significant part of public funds and state resources are being misused for the needs of the election campaign. Montenegro overcame the problem of electoral theft at the polls itself.
“What is the problem in this country is buying votes through the allocation of public money for social benefits, but also keeping records and voter lists,” said Dragan Koprivica from the Center for Democratic Transition (CDT) in Montenegro. Through monitoring this organization has determined that political parties in Montenegro spend much more on advertising than what they report as being invested in the campaign.
The intenational conference “Free and fair media – honest elections” was held whithin BASE project Coalition for free and fair Elections„Pod lupom“, and organized by the Consortium of the BH Journalists Association and BORAM with the support of the Europian Union.