Cover all political parties,media urged

Preliminary findings of a research conducted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia on media coverage during the pre-election period has revealed that the ruling Patriotic Front received more coverage at 45 percent, followed by the opposition UPND with 23 percent.

Speaking during the launch of the media monitoring report and the Zambia 2016 Elections Media Monitoring Project in Lusaka this morning, Lead Researcher Solomon Atibuni says the Patriotic Front has consistently received the most media coverage by both the private and public media.

Mr. Atibuni says the report also shows that the majority of news articles that were categorized as election related stories had a single point of view with only 38 percent having multiple points of views.

He says election stories are predominantly covering processes, personalities and events and not dealing with policy or developmental issues.

Mr. Atibuni also disclosed that among the privately owned media outlets, the dominant election related topic was the electoral process at 11.2% followed by the judiciary and legal affairs at 10.7% with election campaigns at 9.8%.

He has since advised media houses to increase coverage topics relevant to citizen’s choices of who and which party to vote.

Mr. Atibuni says all political parties should be given coverage including small parties.

Speaking when he launched the report, Information and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Godfrey Malama has called on the media to abide by the electoral code of conduct and the new constitution which require them to give equal access to candidates and adhere to objective reporting.

Mr. Malama says there is need for media houses to create a platform for the political players to sell their manifestoes to the voters so that the citizens choose their preferred candidates from an informed point of view.

And MISA Zambia vice Board Chairperson Elizabeth Chanda has cautioned media houses against unbalanced, negative and unprofessional trends while reporting on elections.

Ms. Chanda says Media houses should also desist from sensationalism, incitement, abusive language and relying on unauthorized and unreliable sources of information.