Democratic societies and institutions only have meaning and impact when the populations they are intended to serve understand them, and have the means to hold them to account. Emerging democracies are particularly vulnerable to manipulation of the democratic process itself, and manipulation or stymieing of the information flows that surround those processes. Flawed election processes or weak public institutions are often accompanied by an absence of effective local watchdogs.
All local media platforms have an essential role to play in ensuring the continual transparency of the workings of a democracy. Ultimately, it is the media who will inform populations of forthcoming elections, how to register to vote and how to interpret and access information on election results. During election campaigns, the media also need to exercise transparency and discipline to ensure fair and equitable coverage of all political interests. Elections aside, local media are also the key to ensuring citizens are kept informed of the work and standards of their elected representatives and effectiveness of public institutions; to root out corruption and abuse of office and to champion best practice.
Internews Europe designs comprehensive programmes supporting free and fair elections to ensure the media have the skills and resources to ensure plural and professional coverage before, during and after specific elections. More broadly, Internews provides training in political and investigative journalism, supports the development of media codes of conduct and locally driven media monitoring during election campaigns and around other politically sensitive issues.
