Covering Electoral Campaigns : Media Regulator Prescribes Objectivity

    
The President of the National Communication Council, Peter Essoka has called on pressmen to respect journalism ethnics in their reports on campaigns for the election of regional councillors. He made the call on November 20, 2020 during the permanent session of the Council. 
In his opening remark, Peter Essoka said information on the electoral campaigns must be articulated in a neutral and professional manner especially in a democratic society as Cameroon. “Without trying to dictate the editorial policies of the various media houses in a context of asserting press freedom, and with a pedagogical concern for capacity building, we must ensure that media professionals provide objective, fair and impartial coverage of the announced elections,” he stated. The President further cited the September 24, 1992 decree which implements the Code of Ethics for Journalist, calling on them to handle information in an objective and responsible manner. 
The Council, will according to the President, monitor media coverage of electoral campaigns which already started on November 21, 2020. “Technical services of the National Communication Council will be at work to ensure the media monitoring of the electoral campaign, culminating in the monitoring report of all the identified media actions during the campaign. The Council will also ensure that the political parties in contention strictly respect the air time allocated to them by decision of the Minister of Communi...