Election committee warns against bias media coverage

The Elections Supervisory Committee Tuesday urged all media outlets to maintain neutrality in their coverage of candidates and electoral lists, urging them to commit to the rules of the new electoral law.
The Committee said that its statement came after it noticed an increase in the political rhetoric between politicians and the fact that this was being increasingly reflected in the coverage by audiovisual and print media outlets in line with party affiliations.
It noted in the statement, which was carried by the state-run National News Agency, that this didn’t fit with Article 74 of the electoral law.
According to the article, media outlets are required to respect freedom of expression during the electoral campaign in a manner that provides balance and neutrality in dealing between the candidates and lists.
“No media outlet is allowed to announce its support and promote any candidate or electoral list,” the committee said. “During the electoral campaign, media outlets should clearly differentiate between facts, on the one hand and opinions and comments on the other during their different news bulletins, articles and analysis.”