WORKSHOP ON:
CONSULTATION BETWEEN THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL BOARD OF ETHIOPIA AND THE MEDIA
The Role of the Media in Democratic Elections in Ethiopia
27 May 2019, Sapphire Hotel Addis Ababa
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Introduction
Through the Technical Assistance Unit for the Civil Society Fund III (TAU - CSF III), the European Union (EU) supported the convening of a consultative workshop between the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and the Media, which was held on 27 May 2019. This intervention was based on the recognition of the critical role the media can play in ensuring free, fair and peaceful elections in Ethiopia.
The importance of organizing this consultation workshop at this stage is highlighted by the fact that Ethiopia, after more than four decades of high restriction on the media and freedom of expression, has started to see many significant positive changes since the start of the reform process in April 2018 to improve Ethiopia’s media landscape. Journalists serving long-term imprisonment have been released, and Ethiopia for the first time in a decade is recognized as a country with no journalists in jail. Independent reporting by the local media on elections has almost been non-existent. The role of both the public and private media has been carefully crafted to reporting only on what has been announced by the government. The current opening is an opportunity that must be navigated carefully to ensure a meaningful contribution of media towards the coming national election.
Accordingly, NEBE has started to engage with different stakeholders and actors with a potential role to play in election-related matters. As a continuation of this initiative, NEBE conducted this consultation workshop with media associations, organizations, journalists’ associations and councils that could be a potential partner for awareness-raising, election reporting and civic and voter education. The following paragraphs describe these proceedings and their outcomes.
Workshop Objectives
The objectives of the workshop were to establish engagement and forge a meaningful relationship with the media and map possible areas of collaboration (for example around civic and voter’s education, elections reporting and the combating of “fake news” and hate speech) with individual media organizations, associations, and journalists. NEBE also planned to use this opportunity to introduce its plans regarding media engagement and the possible establishment of the media centre.
Participants
The workshop was attended by around 70 media actors representing the public and private media and their networks at federal and regional levels, in addition to relevant government agencies both at federal and regional levels and representatives of CSOs involved in election-related activities.
Proceedings
There were panel discussions, followed by conversations amongst different media stakeholders. Presentations were made by two panelists on:
- Media and Election: Expectations, Experiences, and Lessons: by Solomon Goshu, Public Policy Advisor, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
- Digital Media and Elections: Opportunities & challenges: by Birhan Taye, Campaigner and Leader of Access Now’s #KeepItOn campaign
The workshop was moderated by Solome Tadesse, a media professional, and the session was chaired by Soleyana Shimeles, Communication Advisor for NEBE. The presentations were followed by a Q&A session during which participants from the media discussed issues and proposed ideas and actions towards enhancing their role in the election.
Ms. Birtukan Midekssa, Chairperson of the National Election Board of Ethiopia welcomed the participants. She thanked the attendees and expressed the hope that the discussion would contribute to successful future collaboration between the Board and national media houses. She also suggested that working in collaboration with the media does not mean they have to cover for the Board but rather that media and professional journalists need to maintain a high level of professionalism, accuracy, and impartiality in their coverage and work towards the common good of the country. Finally, Ms. Birtukan declared the panel discussion open.
Her Excellency Terhi Lantana, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia, made an opening speech and explained that the media serves as watchdogs of events, including elections and scrutinizing the whole electoral process. She also added that the media can also be a forum for campaigns, discussions and debates and publication of agendas for political parties and individual candidates. National media, she noted, are public educators through disseminating civic and voters’ education information, through presenting various interpretations of events and statements. Crucially, they must not disseminate inaccurate information which feeds false interpretations of fact. She noted that journalists need to explore principles of election coverage, including the importance of citizen-oriented journalism, the responsibility to present impartial information, and media rights and freedoms that are legally protected. Finally, she thanked all the participants and sincerely wished participants a successful and fruitful workshop.
After the opening, the two panelists, Ms. Birhan Taye, and Mr. Solomon Goshu made presentations on the topics indicated above. Mr. Solomon Goshu first explained the role of media during the pre-election phase, during the time of elections and the post-election period, and the principles of professionalism in covering elections. He noted how the role of the media in relation to NEBE was crucial in exposing any electoral irregularities and scrutinizing the decisions of the Board and others. He also described some best practices and the practical challenges giving examples from past elections.
Ms. Birhan discussed the opportunities and challenges of social media during elections. Since elections occur in a short period of time and involve a large section of society, she highlighted how these factors provide social media with an exceptional opportunity to provide analysis and information. Social media is directly accessible to the public at large, and hence has the ability to democratize access to information, and to mobilize, organize, and engage citizens, and so much more.
On the other hand, she also noted the challenges of social media, including misinformation, disinformation, doubt, the echo chamber effect, and others. She finally advised on how the media, including journalists and activists, should respond to the above challenges. Ms. Birhan added that it would be of great use if media houses set up fact-checking and news verification centres, and if journalists actively monitor social media and have trusted partners that could help verify and debunk fake news.
Audience Participation
Audience participation at this point involved questions, comments, suggestions, and inputs on the way forward. Some of the points raised as a way forward included:
- Capacity building of the media on election monitoring and reporting to ensure they can a responsible role in the elections
- NEBE to continue to provide up-to-date information to the media through regular press conferences on on-going and new developments
- The media should put mechanisms in place to filter out fake, divisive and hate reports.
Finally, the moderator expressed full satisfaction with the results of the discussion, as well as the workshop in general.
