Newsroom
Some newspapers showed bias during Kosovo elections
PRISTINA 2 November 2000
PRISTINA, 2 November 2000 - The Kosovo Temporary Media Commissioner, Mr. Simon Haselock, has given his assessment of media compliance with the Electoral Rule on the Conduct of the Media during the recent municipal election campaign. Overall, he said, local media - many of which were covering an election for the first time - had done well and deserved congratulations.
He said there were relatively few breaches of the rules governing the broadcast media. Coverage of the various political entities was not always equitable, he said, and some campaign spots were not broadcast on schedule. These problems, however, were usually rectified following intervention by OSCE media monitoring teams.
With regard to the print media, Mr. Haselock said their coverage of the election campaign was, in general, balanced. However, he identified some notable exceptions, including two high profile daily newspapers: Bota Sot and Rilindja, as well as the student newspaper Epoka e Re and the news agency Kosovapress.
There were, he said, several incidents where these outlets behaved unprofessionally and had exhibited obvious bias towards a particular party. More importantly, they had also sought to discredit other entities contesting the elections.
The Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission has adjudicated on two cases concerning alleged inequitable media coverage referred to it by the TMC during the campaign.
The first allegation related to clear political bias against, in particular the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), by Bota Sot. The second allegation related to a sustained and politically inspired political campaign against the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and its leadership, principally through two newspapers, Rilindja and Epoka e Re.
In both instances, the ECAC took into consideration the opinion of Media Advisory Panel that the newspapers used language beyond the realm of responsible journalism and that each paper could be seen as supporting a political party.
The ECAC reminded both the LDK and the PDK that they will be held accountable for violations of the Electoral Rules committed by their supporters, including media, pursuant to the Electoral Code of Conduct.
Monitoring reports on media coverage of the elections are available on the OSCE website:
/kosovo/elections
For further information, contact Roland Bless, Spokesperson, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, tel.: (+381-38) 500-162 or satphone: 871-762-009-948, ext. 260 / mobile: (+389-70) 250-576 / e-mail: [email protected] or website: /kosovo
He said there were relatively few breaches of the rules governing the broadcast media. Coverage of the various political entities was not always equitable, he said, and some campaign spots were not broadcast on schedule. These problems, however, were usually rectified following intervention by OSCE media monitoring teams.
With regard to the print media, Mr. Haselock said their coverage of the election campaign was, in general, balanced. However, he identified some notable exceptions, including two high profile daily newspapers: Bota Sot and Rilindja, as well as the student newspaper Epoka e Re and the news agency Kosovapress.
There were, he said, several incidents where these outlets behaved unprofessionally and had exhibited obvious bias towards a particular party. More importantly, they had also sought to discredit other entities contesting the elections.
The Election Complaints and Appeals sub-Commission has adjudicated on two cases concerning alleged inequitable media coverage referred to it by the TMC during the campaign.
The first allegation related to clear political bias against, in particular the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), by Bota Sot. The second allegation related to a sustained and politically inspired political campaign against the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and its leadership, principally through two newspapers, Rilindja and Epoka e Re.
In both instances, the ECAC took into consideration the opinion of Media Advisory Panel that the newspapers used language beyond the realm of responsible journalism and that each paper could be seen as supporting a political party.
The ECAC reminded both the LDK and the PDK that they will be held accountable for violations of the Electoral Rules committed by their supporters, including media, pursuant to the Electoral Code of Conduct.
Monitoring reports on media coverage of the elections are available on the OSCE website:
/kosovo/elections
For further information, contact Roland Bless, Spokesperson, OSCE Mission in Kosovo, tel.: (+381-38) 500-162 or satphone: 871-762-009-948, ext. 260 / mobile: (+389-70) 250-576 / e-mail: [email protected] or website: /kosovo