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Journalists have been given a challenging task to ensure that what they report, especially during the vote count, is a true reflection of the results.
This, according to a media consultant, Dr. Bonnah Koomson, will go a long way toward ensuring that members of the public are not misinformed in any way.
He stressed that it was inappropriate for journalists to declare the election results before the country’s Electoral Commission (EC) made the official announcements.
He gave the advice, in Tamale, at a workshop jointly organized by GJA and EC to train selected journalists in electoral information.
Participants came from the North, Upper East, Upper West, Oti, Savannah, and Northeast regions.
Dr. Koomson said that “journalists are not allowed to call up the election results. The media cannot take authority away from the EC by declaring results before them.
“Media professionals can monitor election results and report or provide provisional results to the public. Under no circumstances will they announce their results as official or accuse public opinion that they are official results, ”he said.
He urged participants to be objective in their reporting and avoid all forms of bias and prejudice in the performance of their duties to ensure that members of the public maintain the trust placed in them.
Mr. Lucas Yelyire, North Regional Director of the EC, led the participants through some of the legal frameworks governing elections and the code of conduct for electoral observers and monitors.
He said the journalists were classified as election observers and encouraged them to carry out their duties with strict impartiality, independence and objectivity.
“Don’t prejudge the outcome of an election by not allowing your personal opinions, likes and dislikes to influence your judgment and also try not to accept any gifts or favors that may influence your work,” he advised.
Ms. Linda Asante Agyei, Vice President of the GJA, urged participants to be factual and accurate in their reporting to consolidate the success of the country so far in maintaining peace and stability for years.
He called on members of the public to refrain from consuming fake news and resort to seeking reliable and credible news from reliable sources.
— GNA
