WINDHOEK – The editorial management of New Era has called on its journalists to be fair, factual and as humanly objective as possible in their reporting in the upcoming national and presidential elections slated for November.
The chief executive officer of New Era Publication Corporation, Dr Audrin Mathe, said fair election coverage is very important and especially for public media not to be accused of bias.
He said this during a workshop on elections the editorial team held on Friday and called on journalists to be on top of things when it comes to reporting on elections.
Mathe added that, for instance, when counting the number of people at a rally, one has to be careful not to deliberately induce or understate the number of people.
He called on journalists to give equitable coverage to all political parties so that people could make informed choices.
“There are perceptions out there that we are on the side of certain parties. It’s now the opportunity to show we are on no one’s side,” said Toivo Ndjebela the managing editor of New Era, adding that the newspaper is not strictly commercial but answering a national call of duty.
Ndjebela warned reporters to be careful not to entertain personal attacks during elections as New Era is not a platform for such behaviour.
He also told reporters to avoid inciting violence, not be the source of tribal or racial tensions or promote hate speech.
“We must be the prime source of news. We must create that in the minds of readers with informed reporting,” he said, adding that it is not just reporting issues verbatim but also to have an analytical eye.
Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro, the editor of the youth paper Time Out said elections are supposed to be about the people and not just about rallies.
“We have an inclination towards rallies. Does it mean that during elections we can only have rallies?” he asked, adding that reporters should keep tap of aspirations and expectations of people and not regard rallies as their only source of news.
Matundu-Tjiparuro said it was about time that communities started defining and questioning political parties’ manifestos, as they are the ultimate deciders of whom they will vote for.