Senatorial Election: NCC Prescribes Responsible Journalism

The President, Peter Essoka, highlighted possible instructions to be respected by the media in the course of publishing articles within the campaigns of March 25 elections.

As per Article 11 (2) of Presidential Decree N° 2012/038 of 23 January 2012 reorganising the National Communication Council (NCC), the media must respect the principles of transparency, pluralism, and balance in news gathering, and processing of reports during the electoral campaign.

On this note, the President of the Council, Peter Essoka, on March 09, 2018 in a press conference accorded to national and international media organs, urged journalists to uphold the ethics of journalism in their publications during campaigns of the Senatorial election.

Citing Article 11 (1) of the aforementioned decree, Essoka stated that the Council is particularly fixed on the respect for social peace, national unity and integration in all media, and the promotion of the ideals of peace, democracy and human rights.

“As such, all content that is susceptible to bringing strain on these values are strictly forbidden from being disseminated with all messages in support of secessionists and secession must be censored. Reports or articles that can provoke or encourage conflict must be avoided,” he stated.

According to Peter Essoka, the current stakes in the country do not warrant hate speech and inciting journalism. To him, journalists should in the exercise of their duties, objectively pre...