For this year’s inclusive general election, the International Press Center (IPC), tomorrow will hold a round table of stakeholders to present the findings of the ongoing media monitoring.
In a statement, yesterday, the Executive Director of the organization, Lanre Arogundade, noted that the exercise is important to determine whether the polls can be fully judged.
The event, he said, will feature a discussion on the findings of the monitoring in October and November 2022, as well as a presentation of the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage.
The convergence, which Arogundade said will attract stakeholders from the media, civil society, academia, regulatory bodies and other relevant organizations, “will provide an opportunity to evaluate media monitoring reports.”
It is expected that the exercise will help “strengthen the media for fair, accurate, ethical and inclusive coverage of the election and electoral process in Nigeria,” media monitoring, as expressed, “is one of the activities carried out by the IPC below. funded by the European Union (EU).
He proposed that the IPC “will also present a performance scorecard by the monitored media based on the promotion of inclusive issues in coverage and reporting on the election and election process, especially in line with the provisions of the Election Coverage Media Code.”
The newspapers to be monitored are: The Guardian, The Punch, Daily Sun, Vanguard, ThisDay, Nigerian Tribune, The Nation, Leadership, Daily Trust and Daily Independent. The online media included in the exercise are: The Cable, Premium Times, Eagle Online, RealNews and The Authority.
Also on the list is the “news portal (website) and twitter handle of Nigeria’s election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
Optimistic that the project will be successful, Arogundade added: “The overall objective of the media component of the EUSDGN II, which is the main partner of the IPC, is to support the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria with the media helping to facilitate the main material of the credible election through involvement and professionalism in the coverage and reportage of the process election.