The newly launched Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) has started monitoring the country’s mainstream print and broadcasting media, the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) said in a statement.
The statement indicated that the monitoring of all media houses, including selected online media, began on March 1.
The MMU’s first report will be produced for the monitoring period March 1 – 31, and is expected to be made available to all media houses during the first half of April. The statement said the analyses in the reports will be aimed primarily at providing an ample picture of the level of journalistic professionalism employed by the media companies and the level of access granted by media owners/managers/editors to candidates and/or political parties in the mass media.
The unit will also analyze whether the reporting is fair and balanced, whether the electorate is gaining comprehensive and impartial information from all media in order to make an informed choice on Election Day and also the tone of media coverage towards candidates and political parties.
“The findings of the MMU reports will be in line with the recently signed Elections Media Code of Conduct,” the statement said.
Recently, staff of the MMU completed a five-day Media Code of Conduct familiarization exercise and they were given expert direction in understanding, interpreting, and implementing the 2015 Elections Media Code of Conduct.
