…to commence operations on Monday
THE Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) has been resuscitated and will become operational with effect from Monday, with a view to fostering self regulation of the media and adherence to the revised Media Code of Conduct.
This is according to Chairman of GECOM, Dr. Steve Surujbally, speaking at the launch of the re-established MMU at the Tower Hotel yesterday.

“Today is a red letter day, as we launch the re-opening of the MMU of GECOM. This unit has served us in great stead in the past and it is with great pleasure that I am here today to be part of this occasion. Together we make this very important step towards ensuring that the 2011 elections will be conducted in an atmosphere of civility and decency and respect, dare I add, in an atmosphere of peace and harmony,” he said.

Dr. Surujbally said that GECOM has reached this point of the launch of the revived MMU “not alone”. He said a lot of the support came from government, political parties, Commissioners and staff of GECOM, international partners and the media.

“Where GECOM is concerned, we are convinced that, to a large degree, the success or failure of our efforts are closely interlinked with the publicity given to meaningful issues and the way you handle those matters,” the GECOM Chairman said.

“We in the Commission need your help, and we in turn will support your task of probing, interrogating and exposing; but we cannot countenance the manufacture of untruths and an emphasis on meaningless superficialities. Simply put, you will be doing the Commission, and, by extension the nation, a great disservice if your individual or collective activity stimulates the masses with damaging innuendo,” he said.

“We would greatly appreciate it, if you were to promote public dialogue about meaningful issues that affect people’s lives and the character of the nation, instead of directing efforts towards sensationalist entertainment, a mass production of distraction,” he stated.

Further, he said the media can significantly influence the environment, the atmosphere in which the campaigns for the upcoming elections take place. “Perhaps your greater role is to help GECOM to encourage participation in the democratic process, to help explain the system so that all – especially those voting for the first time – know exactly what they need to do to cast their vote. Yours is the platform from which the parties can all explain their manifestos,” Dr. Surujbally stated.

Ceased operations
The MMU had ceased operations in July last year, following government’s documented indication to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to withdraw its support for the MMU, until some later date close to the general and regional elections.

Among the aims of the MMU is to work towards the creation and maintenance of suitable environment under which GECOM could carry out General and Regional Elections 2011, in a manner commonly acceptable as being peaceful, free and fair; improving the current standards of media reportage of election, political, governance and social issues; and strengthening of GECOM’s Public Relations Department in the area of information gathering and image building.

The objectives of the MMU are to monitor the local media and report on breaches of the principles enshrined in the 2010 Media Code of Conduct and norms associated with international best practices in journalism; to promote the raising of professional standards in the media with regard to the reporting of political, electoral, governance and general social issues; to encourage equity, balance and fairness in news reporting; and to influence media owners/operatives to abide by the principles enshrined in the 2010 Media Code of Conduct.

The MMU will compile a body of incontrovertible evidence-based information of local media performance through a system of continuous daily monitoring using the 2010 Media Code of Conduct as the standard.

The Unit will prepare and disseminate periodic reports of the Unit’s findings on the local media’s performance, and submit these to interested stakeholders, in this case the local media, GECOM and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Unit will also provide GECOM’s Public Relations Department with back-up support in the area of information gathering.

Resuscitation
Giving his rationalisation for the Petition to Resuscitate the MMU, Dr. Surujbally said that early this year, GECOM began witnessing the resurgence of the publication of inciting articles/comments in the print and electronic media.

“Evidently, also, there has been an increase in public comments associated with General and Regional Elections 2011, some of which carry content that could lead to conflict. Every one would agree that this is something which all of the key stakeholders should guard against, relative to the maintenance of national peace and tranquility,” he said.

He said that this led to the conviction that the time was opportune for the revival of the MMU. “We therefore wrote a letter, dated January 18, 2011, to Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, advocating that the re-assembling of the Unit be given priority consideration. I reminded Dr. Luncheon that during our deliberations last year on the matter of the disbandment of the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the understanding was that the closure was only temporary, and that Government would support the resuscitation of the Unit in early 2011,” he said.

“Accordingly, I had pointed out that the government’s disposition of this matter will certainly pave the way for the media to operate within the principles enshrined in the Media Code of Conduct, to which all of the major stakeholders pledged adherence. I followed this matter up with another letter dated June 10, 2011,” he said.

In that letter, Dr. Surujbally said that since the closure of the GECOM MMU, there was a marked upsurge in media impropriety, “as were reflected in many distasteful /mischievous utterances and writings.”

He noted in the letter that there seemed to be a free-for-all, no-holds-barred journalistic modus operandi emerging. “The MMU had, during its existence, reined in the media’s propensity to relapse into crudeness, non-substantiation of supposed facts prior to publication, and the promotion of sensationalism. In other words, the media seemed to be regressing to the pre-MMU days,” the letter said.

Further, he said that GECOM is extremely averse to conducting its business in an atmosphere of hostility and violence. “It is for these reasons mentioned above, and those documented in a letter (dated June 21, 2010) to President Bharrat Jagdeo, that I urged Dr. Luncheon to support the thrust to have the MMU resuscitated immediately,” he said.

Everyone wins with MMU
Speaking at the event, Resident Representative of the UNDP, Carlos del Castillo, said nobody ignores the powers of the press for social stability and for the support of democratic behaviour, but he also spoke also of its ability to disrupt these process.

“That is why the UNDP, together with the wider donor community in Guyana, has agreed to support the re-launch of the MMU, with the idea that by doing so, we are supporting peaceful and violent free elections this year,” he said.

He noted that the unit is operational because the press itself has approved the Media Code of Conduct, and by doing so has agreed to have an ethical approach to this electoral process.

“By re-launching the MMU, there is no one political party or group that wins, it is the whole of Guyana and the democratic process that wins. And this is one reason we are behind this effort and why we want this unit to consolidate itself and, if possible, to play a role in the political and electoral life of the country after the election [is over],” he said.