CAIRO - 6 September 2023: The Board of Directors of the National Elections Authority, headed by Counselor Walid Hamza, continues to complete preparations for the presidential elections, as a meeting was held Tuesday, during which it reviewed the applications submitted by press institutions, media outlets, and local websites.
During the meeting, the authority accepted all applications from press and media outlets.
The Board of Directors assigned the authority’s executive body to examine the remaining applications submitted in accordance with the provisions of National Elections Authority Resolutions No. 22 and 23 of 2019 regulating registration in two databases for registering civil society organizations, and media coverage to follow up on elections and referendums.
Resolution No. 23 of 2019 concerns the establishment of a database to register press institutions, media outlets and local websites with the National Elections Authority in order to make it easier for them to follow up the elections process.
What are the regulations set for media coverage?
The decision included the media regulations that must be included in media coverage of the upcoming presidential elections, as it stipulated that authorized institutions, means, sites, and members of their work crews, when carrying out media coverage of elections or referendums, must take into account objectivity in accordance with recognized professional principles.
According to the regulations, media must, in particular, commit to:
1- Not mixing opinion with news, and not mixing news with advertising.
2- Paying attention to accuracy in conveying information, and not ignoring its sources.
3- Using titles that express the text.
4- Not publishing pictures that are far from the topic of coverage.
5- Not confusing terms, making generalizations that are not permissible, or cutting sentences from statements that contradict the text of these statements.
6- Not conducting any opinion poll before the election or referendum committees or within the scope of the election or referendum association, and not asking the voter about the candidate he or she will elect.
7- Do not detract from the right of each party to respond or comment on the attack or praise he is subjected to.
8- Do not publish free or paid advertisements for the candidate or for those who express their opinion regarding the referendum after the legally specified deadline for advertising.
9- Not using religious slogans to support or reject a candidate or an issue presented to a referendum.
10- Do not ask suggestive questions with clear bias.
11- Prior disclosure of the guests’ electoral identity or their intellectual biases regarding the subject of the referendum
12- Not accepting any donations, subsidies or special benefits, whether directly or indirectly, from any person or entity on the occasion of coverage work. In addition, national press institutions, public media institutions and outlets, and their affiliated websites are committed to achieving equality between candidates when using them for electoral propaganda.
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