 Dear friends and colleagues, Africa is emerging as a player on the global stage. That is not news to you, I hope. I say it simply as an invitation to reflect on the significance of that statement. For the first time in our history, events and outcomes in Africa will impact and be directly impacted by what goes on in the rest of the world. Remember, even as late as 2008, less than a decade ago, the subprime crisis and the global economic meltdown of that year had narrowed an effect on the continent. Africa was essentially outside the global economy, too small a player to matter. That has all changed, even though people in Africa do not go to bed thinking about that fact, not citizens and, quite conveniently, not their leaders. But we all ought to. The challenge of injecting that into the public discourse belongs, I believe, to media professionals and, to some extent, to academics, social commentators and other opinion leaders on the continent. Citizens and leaders have to be reminded of this important fact because their actions today and tomorrow at the individual micro level have consequences at the collective micro level. The discussion must focus on the quality of leadership on the continent. What quality of men and women are in leadership in Africa today? What quality of men and women should lead Africa in the 21st century? The answer to these questions will bring us to the one element that is increasingly central to the choice of leaders today, elections. One of the most important drivers of change in Africa now is the system of governance that came into prominence after the collapse of the building war and at the end of the Cold War. Freed from the imperatives of a bipolar world, people in Africa rose to demand the right to participate in the governance of their countries. The result was the collapse of centralized states and single-party rule and the rise in Africa of participatory democracy. Elections of sins become the mode for determining entry into the circle of national leadership and the leaders who will ensure that Africa remains an actor in world affairs this century will come to power through elections. The future of the continent is inextricably linked to what happens during elections and in this the role of media is critical. That is why it's important that we all get into the game, understand what elections represent and figure out how we cover these intensely political, economic, social activities in the life of any nation. Elections strengthen our democracy and its institutions. They determine the quality of leaders who govern the nation. They help ensure the stability of peace and progress and ultimately they define the pace and quality of development and change. Key to electoral outcomes is the quality of public information and debate. Informed citizens are empowered citizens. Never before in its history has the need for quality public information in Africa been in greater demand. Never before has the role of the communication professional been more important. What you do in the lead up to elections in the organization and coverage of elections and in bringing the country together after elections may be the single most important factor for reinforcing the bonds that bind the nation strengthening its institutions and ensuring national progress and development. I am certain that if you get this the program you are about to embark on will serve you and the nation well and make sure that media in your country and in Africa play that central role in defining the future of this continent. I wish you great success in the days ahead. Thank you. Eric you've given us the context for today's online workshop reporting on elections in Africa. I'd like to welcome everyone who has joined us from embassies around the continent as well as those journalists who are joining the program from your homes or offices. I'm Jerry Eddings your moderator for this program. In my daily life I'm a senior program director for the International Center for Journalists based in Washington D.C. I've worked in and around Africa for nearly 30 years as a journalist and manager of media training and development programs. I am joined today by Judy Yeblonki an international journalist and media consultant with more than 35 years of experience in international media as both a foreign correspondent and a media consultant. Since 1991 Judy has specialized in seminars and media training programs for over 2000 professional journalists and politicians in 30 plus countries in Africa as well as in Eastern Europe and Nepal. In the past few years we've seen important elections take place in Africa including national elections in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. This year there are numerous elections set to take place on the continent including in Uganda and Niger where voters go to the polls this month as well as in Ghana, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The media play a critical role at every stage in this democratic process before, during and after the polls close. As we know election reporting in Africa is challenging. As much of reporting in Africa is challenging. Journalists face a host of obstacles ranging from restrictions on press freedom to difficulties reporting on the ground because of limited data on poll results. This workshop will cover best practices in election reporting. We'll talk about professional standards in reporting on elections and we will address the importance of an impartial media and candidates, government and opposition parties and with the general public. Key topics for this program include election processes, covering campaigns, journalists rights to information during an election, the difference between journalists and election observers, preparing a coverage plan, personal safety during election coverage and post election reporting. We will take as many questions as we can during this 90 minute workshop. Please send us your questions by writing them in the chat space next to the video player. As you send us your questions, Judy and I will begin with a brief discussion of a few key topics which will then be followed by the Q&A on issues of concern to you. So let me begin with a few words about the different players in the electoral process. And many of you are familiar with these players because you've had important elections in your countries recently, but it's good to go over the players. Of course, at the center of this is the citizen. Citizens are the essential players in election. They vote and in a fair election and where they are well informed, they decide who wins. To ensure that your coverage is complete, talk to citizens. Find out what their issues are. Don't just cover the candidates' issues. Make sure you're speaking to the people and for the people. Then there are candidates. Among the candidates, and this I'll just cover very briefly, there are the incumbents, the people who hold power and want to hold on to power. And sometimes go to great lengths to hold on to power. And there are opposition candidates, those who oppose those who are the status quo and who want to gain power. That's enough for that. Election observers and monitors. These people play a key role in ensuring that the quality of elections. Teams of independent reporters, sometimes external players, but sometimes internal civil society observers, often lend credibility to an election and they promote public confidence in the election process. Their presence can often deter fraud, violence and intimidation. These observers submit reports following the election on the fairness of the election and how it unfolded. Journalists play a different role. They don't report afterwards. They report right when it's happening. They report on those events as they unfold and they provide the public with information on candidates, on their platforms and their positions, their finances and their backgrounds and their backers, and on their statements and activities. When journalists do their jobs, citizens are equipped with the information they need to make informed choices when they go to the ballot box. Of course, this is not an easy job as many of you know. It's a challenging job. So I'd like to turn to Judy to talk about some of those challenges. Judy, can you give us an idea of some of the things that journalists can do to meet the challenges presented by elections? Of course. I entitled my little piece on this and I'm going to go through it quite fast about the ever-changing plan. Because effective elections coverage depends upon proper planning and preparation. And it doesn't start the day the elections are announced. It's year-round. And I emphasize training because that's what I do a lot of. Plans allow for the media to establish their own priorities instead of just reacting to events. An independently drafted plan can ensure clarity, fairness and balance in coverage. And I've divided my plan into three parts. The first checklist I'd like to give is for management in the desk. Now I know that many of you attending this today are journalists and practicing professional journalists. However, if the management in the desk doesn't do its job or their jobs, the election planning for journalists doesn't work. So what does the management have to do? They have to get the details from the electoral commission. They need to know, and I'm talking from publishers, advertisers, editors-in-chief on down to the journalist, they need to get the information from the electoral commission. What are we talking about? Registration date, start and closing day, election day specifics, organization, timetables. They need to know what the rules are and they need to know that everybody on their team knows what the rules are. Whether we're talking about voting systems, electoral laws, polls, laws governing observers and monitors, which Jerry just mentioned. Use of public opinion surveys, political advertising regulated, editorials access to state media, expenses and limitations. They need to know the media guidelines for publishers, for editors, for journalists, and they need to know the electoral guidelines, which sometimes are very different. They need to have access to general ethics codes and specific ones for the elections on access to information and protection for the media, as well as how to investigate. They need to know the budget. Elections coverage, budgets usually just run away. Extras are always needed, phone lines, faxes, additional transportation, even overtime for journalists. This is all part of the preparation and planning for elections coverage. They need to review procedures, policies for potential problems such as conflicts of interest, bribery, perhaps create an editorial panel that is just for the elections and not the daily one. They need to plan for technical and operational arrangements to change. Letter deadlines on pages, advertising free pages, guidelines for accepting ads. They need backup systems. They need plans for emergencies. And the decision has to be made on high. Is there an editorial alignment in this particular media? And I'm talking whether it's print, radio, TV, or citizen online journalism. Okay, so that's my checklist as brief as I can be for management in the desk. And there's the checklist for editors and journalists, which is a bit longer, but I'm going to go through this very fast, so take note and write your questions now. My first comment is everybody needs training and everybody needs continual training. Political reporting doesn't start the day elections start. It's year-round. So we're talking about training for the entire team, whether it's the desk editors, the sub editors, the reporters, as well as the editorialists. We're talking about training in writing and editing, decoding political jargon, which I think is always a problem, rendering difficult concepts comprehensible. We're talking about training for photographers. We're talking about training for graphic artists. We're talking about training in the specifics of radio writing. We're talking about training in TV sound and images, which change during elections when you're out in the field. Okay, major question. Who decides what coverage and why? Well, basically it's an editorial process from the top on down. Journalists don't always have the say. The reporters on the ground have the say in what they're, the event they're covering and what they're going to cover part of it. But who decides coverage starts in the publisher's offices. The desk needs to redefine the team and its responsibility. Who covers what? Not just political reporters. All reporters get involved in elections coverage. The addition of non-political experts to have to cover issues, whether it's economics, health, education, agriculture, these are all issues that become important and should be important during elections. The question of more staffing or sources. Well, one of the things that we've done and that I've done in some countries is help create a fact collection seat for stringers. You don't have a journalist in that town. Well, you come up with a stringer and you give him a brief paper on what sort of information you need and how you need it. Setting up a network of stringers is very important during election profits. My father was a broadcast journalist and he did that for CBS News in the 60s in the States. Resources needed, well, additional and combined contact lists, including local political pundits, experts, analysts, spokespeople for associations, unions, non-governmental organizations, local observers, international monitors, as well as the political parties and candidates. You need physical resources, updated address books, visible maps for venues, updated photo, film and graphics, libraries, ready graphics showing districts in apportionment. All of this is part of the planning. All of this has done long in advance in the elections. Fact files, facts and figures and resources on hand, updated including profiles of major candidates or potential candidates and that these have been verified. Electrical districts, economic bases, population issues, party dominance, past elections history. Who decides what to cover? Well, I'll go back again. The owners and publishers, if it's a politically aligned medium, usually decide what coverage they want to make. Otherwise, it's the editor-in-chief and the assigning editor. The state control media is a different ball of wax. That depends on the particular country. As a journalist, you need to take the initiative and propose coverage, especially articles of public interest. You're the man or woman in the street. You're the person covering the citizens directly. Propose the issues that are interest to them. Okay, what to cover? One, civic education. One of the role is to cover the process and the how-to's of elections and the why's of coverage to audiences. Voter registration procedures. The ballot itself, is it legible? Are there party loggers or pictures of candidates? You are out there to help mobilize the electorate during the elections process. What to cover? Well, we always talk about the 5Ws and the H when it comes to reporting and writing. I talk about the 5Ps when it comes to elections. Process, personalities, political parties, platforms, the people, and their problems. Is that five or six? Anyway, those are the issues that you need to take into consideration on every major event, on every major issue. Okay, what to cover? Worthy media events, interesting debates, campaign tours, box pops, or man in the street interviews. What to cover for? And as I said, I'm going very fast, but you'll come up with questions for this. As a journalist, take the initiative and propose topics, especially the topics of public interest. You're the person on the ground. You should be the one to recognize what the themes and issues are for the citizen voter. But there are other things you can do. The newspaper can schedule roundtables. Someone can propose a one-by-one topic news article and go to each of the political parties to do a comparison. Call-ins, on-the-air interviews, talk shows. What about humor and satire? They also have a role in elections coverage. Chargers and counterchargers on negative campaigning. Polls and other predictions of results. Cartoons, that's all part of elections coverage. Skills needed for election coverage, and we can debate this, but that'll come later. An open mind, a neutral point of view, a balanced perspective, good reporting and writing skills, and even better listening skills. I have two last things. Coverage five, voting process and counting technology. Because that's very much a part of the technology used to cover elections. Challenges, I'm going to mention a few. Do not focus only on the negative. Very frequently elections campaigns go negative. There's a lot more about elections than negative. Beware of PAC journalism. You don't just foul the leader. Beware of propaganda. Stunts and tricks to get coverage. Political parties are really good at hyping their message. Look behind what they give you. Beware of the press releases without checking and explaining. Press releases are only a lead. They are not a story in themselves. You need name sources and clear attribution. Be careful of your use of social media. Give equitable coverage. Be credible. Unprofessional polls are bad news, therefore bad for the media. For the voters and the entire election process. Professional unbiased polling is very difficult. The checklist for V-day and follow-ups is under the question and answer part. So I'm not going to go there now. But there is no formula for good elections coverage. You'd be creative, be credible, balanced, unbiased and truthful. The media is what allows the voters to make an informed and responsible choice. And that led into my next topic, which I will be very brief on, because I've been running out of my time. Transparency in elections means transparency in coverage. Separation of opinion and fact. Commentary news in election coverage. And here I'm going to editorialize. I'm taking my role as an editor. If a free independent and responsible media is the cornerstone of a democracy, and that's, we read it all, the journals and books. Transparency is the key principle for both credible elections and credible coverage. Transparency is a term for a clear and open process, which is both understandable and accountable to the electorate. Okay, so the elections process needs to be open to all stakeholders. We're talking about the voters, which Jerry just mentioned, as well as the political parties and the party agents. We're talking about local observers and international monitors. The electoral ministries are the board. We're talking about finding the media, and verification has to be possible for and by all stakeholders in this process. Transparency establishes trust and public confidence, and allows voters a way to verify that results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people. Well, what is transparency in coverage? It's the separation of fact and opinion. Information, commentary, and analysis are all part of elections coverage. But voters need information first so as to make their own informed and responsible decisions. Opinion is primarily used to confirm decisions already made to reaffirm views and to reinforce individual opinions. It also opens the debate between candidates and parties. Analysis is really sourced opinion for the journalist as an expert, and interpretation can be journals giving their and others insights. News is fact, commentary is opinion. In order to give the voters transparent tools to make decisions, the separation of news and commentary must be clear. In order to be truly transparent, the media must also use identified sources and complete attribution. And that's my editorial for this time. Jerry? Thanks, Judy. I want to now take just a few minutes to talk about another really important subject, which is your safety. We all know that elections can be dangerous affairs in some places. It can be dangerous for candidates, for citizens who attend political rallies or other events, and for reporters who cover those candidates or events, or reporters who dig up damaging information on certain political players. So it's important to think about your safety, both your physical safety and the security of your work. That is your communications and your content. I asked one of my favorite consultants on this topic to share his best advice on keeping safe. So these tips come from Jorge Luis Sierra, an ICFJ night fellow, and an expert in journalist security. On physical security, he says something simple. Always carry your press ID. Wear protective gear if violence is probable. Be prepared for security challenges during the election from rioters or from aggressive anti-riot police or from active terrorist groups. Plan your safety well in advance of your coverage. Know the surroundings of your coverage area. Know the streets, the public transportation. Know about escape routes. Know where you can take shelter if there's a violent outbreak. Have a plan for what you'll do in case you are attacked or arrested or detained. You should have contact information with you, not only for your editor, but for someone who can provide legal advice if you need it. If violence does arise, don't interview people out in the open, like in the open street, but if you have to do so, do your interviews in corners with your back to the corner, allowing you to see all directions from that corner. Where possible, work in teams. I think Judy touched on this a bit as well. Or work at least in pairs. If you're a broadcast journalist, you have a crew already. But if you're a print journalist, perhaps you have a photographer or there's another journalist that you can travel with who you don't feel competitive with. It's important that you not be alone in places where you might run into violent situations. So, pairing up can be a protection. But for TV journalists, you have your camera crews, but you also have your cameras and things that make you more visible. So be aware that you don't become a target in a crowd. Try not to get in the middle of the action to the extent that you might become a target yourself. Finally, check in regularly with your editors so that they know where you are. So now here are some tips on digital security, which is becoming increasingly important as we rely more on our cell phones and other devices to cover the news. Jorge Luis says, use light computers with just the needed information that you need inside. Don't carry your entire archive with you. And encrypt your... We'll talk about encryption a bit more later if we need to, but encrypt your... or protect your computer and your mobile device in case they're stolen or lost. Also, encrypt your emails and your chats. The list of resources that you're going to be provided for this program includes information on tutorials, on how you can protect your... not only yourself, but particularly your computer or your mobile phone. And so here are some additional tips on digital safety that will also serve you well while covering politics or elections. Use secure passwords for your email. Don't use your name or don't use an obvious sequence of numbers like one, two, three, four, which are the most common and the easiest things to crack if somebody wants to get at your information. Keep your computer safe from viruses and malicious software by installing antivirus software. And make sure you update that software regularly. Be careful about opening email attachments from unknown sources. As a rule, it's best not to open websites that just pop up on your computer and ask you to click yes in order to gain access to them. It's often something that they're trying to get access to you rather than giving them access to you access to them. You should also be aware of free networks in public places like airports because they might be set up just to gain access from your computer. Access to your computer and to your information. Mobile phones, as I said, are just becoming more and more an important tool for reporters all over the world. But they're more vulnerable than computers, so don't use your phones for confidential communications. There are lots of resources that can provide you with additional information on how to stay safe. Check out the list of resources that are going to be provided by this program. One resource that I find particularly useful for tutorials on digital security is called Security in a Box. You'll find that there. It contains basic information that will be tremendously useful to you. Now, I think we can hear from you. I've asked you to send your questions via the chat space near the video player. And we're ready to take them now. Judy and I are ready to take your questions now. And we have one. Our first question. Many media outlets endorse a certain candidate in an election. How can a media outlet endorse a candidate and then report objectively on the campaign on the election and the post-election period? Okay, let me start and then let me turn to Judy, because I actually worked for a newspaper on its editorial page, and we endorsed candidates. But what we did was make it clear that the editorial space speaks for the publisher, but the news pages speak for the people. We talk to the people. We relay information to the people. We try to be as unbiased as possible in the information that we have there provided to give the citizens what they need to make informed decisions. But the important thing here and the key thing here is that there is a clear line. There is something that Judy touched on earlier. There is transparency where you say this is an editorial. This editorial does not influence the news that we are presenting to you. Now, different news organizations are different. Of course, in some news organizations, instructions come from the top down, but the way that it should be done most fairly so that people are served, they know the difference between your opinion and the facts that you gather to inform them is by being transparent about what's an opinion and what's a news story. Judy? Yeah, I'd just like to say something about the print media in that so my experience in Francophone Africa is frequently there's an editorial on the first page, on the main page and sometimes it's marked editorial and sometimes it's not. So we're back to the question of transparency. I need to know, I'm reading or watching, reading a newspaper, watching TV, listening to the radio, I need to know when it's an editorial. Sometimes you can tell just by reading or listening when it's commentary, but often you cannot. If it's an editorial position being taken, it should be marked as commentary or said that it's an editorial. And again, we're back to the credibility of the media, not just the credibility of the elections, which made me want to make a point about the safety for journals. The credibility of your media is your protection. The organization we're working for has shown that it's fair, independent, responsible throughout the year and is going to be fair, independent, responsible in its news cover, information coverage of elections, that's a protection for the journalist. One other thing I wanted to mention, and I'm taking a step back, sorry, that get basic first aid training, that wasn't on Jerry's list, it's on mine, and no story is worth a journalist's life. If you really think you're risking your life, don't do it. We'll get the news somewhere else. But transparency would be my answer to that question. And it also has to be transparent to the journalists. You don't know who the publisher or the owner of your newspaper or your TV or whatever is supporting, and you find out that he or she has given money to a candidate. Well, that has to be transparent and it needs to be transparent on the news pages as well as to the staff. Very important points, Judy. Thank you, especially the point that no story is worth your life. I should have said, and you should always keep in mind, that go after that good story, but no story is worth your life. Next question, Elaine from the chat space asks, why do some journalists want to proclaim election results instead of waiting for the election management bodies to do so? This is an interesting question. Judy, do you want to start with that one? I think that goes with the scoop mentality that we're all taught at journalism school, or we learn online and learn by doing. You always want to be first. It's more important to be reliable, to be accurate, and to give the correct information than it is to be first. I think in most election laws and in most election coverage of principles, it says wait for the official announcement. Now, we can talk about later exit polls and talking to people about how they voted as they're coming out, but that's not official information. Who wins the election is official information. I want to add a little something to that because I know from experiences, even going back 20 years for the Ghana elections where Mr. Kufour was elected and coming up to today with the last Nigerian elections, had journalists on the continent talk to me about this very subject of proclaiming results or rather announcing results as they are counted in particular polling stations. And a number of journalists across the continent have said to me that one reason, one important reason to come out with the results from a particular place, not the overall result of who's the winner and who's the loser, but come out with an announcement of what the ballot count is in this station versus that station, is because in some places something very mysterious happens between the time that the ballots are counted on the spot and that the announcement is made officially. And they have been stories about ballot boxes disappearing mysteriously or being lost. And one thing that journalists have done in order to ensure that no nefarious stuff goes on between the counting and the actual official announcements is get as much information out as possible. The minute there are some numbers, get it out, get it out. It's been done on radio, it's been done on social media. But they do that not to proclaim the final result, but to ensure that there is no suspicious activity that tries to manipulate the outcome. And I respect that that's an important purpose being served by journalists getting information out about results in particular voting stations. One comment, Jerry, in countries where elections go across time zones and in the United States there's a three hour time zone just in continental U.S., you can't get the official results in one end of the country before the voting has closed in the other end of the country because that too might have an effect on results. And that's a problem and that's in many electoral commission rules and laws. Yeah, I think that you have to operate according to the rules and laws in the place where you operate but also according to the situation. As you say, we have time zones that are affected by announcements here but that may not be the case in some other place. So you very much have to report according to the situation that you're in and the rules that you're governed by. So another question, thanks, Judy, for that. Another question comes from Cecil and please Cecil, please I apologize if I'm mispronouncing your name. In fact, I think I'm not going to pronounce the entire name but let's just say Cecil from the GBC Radio in Ghana. He's viewing us from the U.S. Embassy in Ghana and he wants to know why the special interest of West Africa, of the West in elections in Africa. Let me say that again. Why the special interest of the West in elections on the African continent? Good question. Judy, do you want to start with that one? I actually don't think it's anything new. I've been running training programs in Africa for 25 years now and the first training programs I ran were how to do political reporting which automatically goes into elections coverage and I think it predates that. I think the interest is greater now because we do have electronic media and it's a lot easier to follow countries around the world and because we've seen elections in other countries that might be of greater interest and remember all news is local. Africa is more local to me living in Paris than it is to Jerry living in Washington D.C. So news has become more internationalized and I think there's a greater interest in the democratic process since the Arab Spring. So it's a whole series of reasons but I don't think it's anything new. It's just greater. I think that's true and I also think that the West in fact is interested in elections everywhere. We're interested in elections in Russia. We're interested in elections in Europe. I think we're interested in the democratic process across the globe because it's a process that we're committed to. I think that we're not necessarily always the model of how it should work but I think we try to be faithful to the democratic process and to help people around the world who are trying to promote that process. I guess that's enough for now on that topic. Let me take another question. Here's a question from Janine Kotsia. I think that's a South African name. She asks, how do you get hold of sources when not in country during elections? When your office is based in South Africa, for instance, this is not clear, when your office is based in South Africa, just how you deal with Uganda? I'm sorry, this question is absolutely not clear. Let me check. Let me double check this. In any case, I think the basic question is how do you deal with sources when you're not in country during the elections? And we have two similar questions. Let me just go on to those similar questions so that we maybe wrap them up together. This one from Ernst Adot from the New Crusading Guide. I think he's viewing at the Embassy in Ghana. He also asks, since in your own words, who decides what to cover and what starts in the publisher's office, where most public media houses are owned by politicians or editors openly aligned to political parties, is there any way there can be balanced reporting? Okay. I guess two questions there. How do you handle sources when they're not in your country and how do you make sure that your reporting is balanced? I can make a comment on the first one very easily. The internet exists today. There are journalist unions, associations, monitor systems in almost all the countries that are having elections that are on our list and all the countries that I know of. Go online, find the journalist union, find out who's president of the journalist union and say, I'd like to speak to a local journalist. We're all in the same profession. We're out there to help. We're out there to get information out. I think your internet and professional associations is your best bet when you're all in the country. I agree. And there are tremendous resources that are available via the internet. In the old days, you used to try to track people down with faxes and telephones now. Cyberspace makes life so much easier for you and mobile phones also make space. And things like Skype. You can have an actual Skype chat or a Google chat with sources and actually interact with them in real time so that you're not even just sending questions and waiting for answers. There are so many ways to ensure that you get good sources even if they're not right there near you. The list of resources is almost infinite. The important thing is that you identify reliable sources. That you do your homework and get sources that are well informed. The people who know what they're talking about who know the landscape and can give you valuable information to inform and improve your coverage. There was another question about... The other question was about how can you give balanced reporting if you know that the medium for which you work has already aligned with a candidate or a political party. Or is state controlled? Let's go one step further. That's a choice that every journalist has to make in who I'm going to work for if I have the freedom to make that choice. Am I going to work for a newspaper, a radio station that has come out and supported a candidate and is not allowing me to do my job as a journalist to get the news and information to the voter? You have a moral and ethical choice to make. If your newspaper has a union, you can discuss it in the union, you can go in a group and discuss it with the owner, whoever is making decisions. But that's a real problem. I'm not sure there's an easy answer, but we've all been in situations where we disagree with our boss. I'm not just talking journalist. You have to make a decision on how you're going to deal with that disagreement. If the ethics of the newspaper or the radio station or TV is not one you want to work for, then you have another choice to make, and it's a hard choice. Thanks, Judy. Another question. A viewer from the U.S. Embassy in Ghana asks, how has election reporting evolved on the continent? What has changed, and what elements can be incorporated into the new reporting regime? I think that's a fascinating question about how reporting has evolved, because I think reporting has in fact evolved as democracy on the continent has evolved. I think there is more freedom to do independent reporting now than at any point in Africa's history, really. Thirty years ago, there might not have been an election for you to cover. Ten years ago in your country, there might not have been an election for you to cover, it might have been absolutely dangerous for an opposition party to hold events. In Zimbabwe, opposition, I've covered stories where opposition party members tried to hold events and were beaten and arrested, beaten to a pulp and arrested. So I think that there is just a great deal more freedom for journalists to operate in this space now than there ever has been before, and also there are more tools. I think I might let Judy talk a little bit about the new tools that are available to you, that there are infinitely more tools at your disposal and resources at your disposal and training at your disposal. Yeah, she's singing my song. Training is one of the primary reasons that the journals have a toolkit to do their jobs, and the training can be in a professional level at a university, and there are more and more universities that offer journals and programs in Africa today than 25 years ago when I first started doing this. So there's professional training. There's training on the job where editors and owners are recognizing that my journalists are coming out of journalism school but they really don't know what they're doing yet. So we're going to get them a mentor. We're going to get them professional training. You're going to come on journals on their own and we're going to come and participate in programs like what we're doing today. We're chatting and it'll go on and you've gotten a whole list of full-page resources, which I hope you all read. The president has added to this openness. There are all sorts of professional training and reading you can go on on the internet. We got an initial list of some of the countries that are going to participate today. I went and looked up the elections to see when they were, what sort of elections they were. I did my homework for this participation in the seminar. And the freedom to operate. Jerry mentioned that. Sure, the media is still controlled. Media is controlled to some extent in every country in the world, whether it's by budgeting and finances or just money in the states or whether it's by editorial alignment in France or whether it's state controlled in some of your countries. We all have limited freedoms. But our role is to talk about freedom and that's what we're doing today. So yeah, I think there's been a great change in elections and election coverage and for good reasons. Absolutely, thank you. Our next question comes from Peter Anwabariri. Please excuse me if I've mangled your name, Peter. Peter is from the news agency of Nigeria and he asks, many media outfits accept editorials and advertisements that are adverse to opponents during election campaigns. If your medium is engaged in this, how can a journalist maintain objectivity, fairness, and credibility? Hmm. Can we separate that into two? Can we separate that into two parts? One into one into editorials and the other into advertising? Because I think they're very different problems. Let's deal with advertising first. Any party, any candidate should be able to pay for and put an ad in any medium that is doing elections coverage. Again, the laws of the country will decide what they can do, how they can do it, and what they can say. But I'm for advertising. I'm also for pages that do not have advertising, that the pages that actually cover the elections do not have advertising supporting or talking about one party or another. I'm for advertising when it's advertising an event that a political party or a political candidate is going to have at such and such a venue, at such and such a time, on such and such a day. I think advertising is an important part of elections coverage. I don't want to have to deal with it. That's separate in all the media operations I've worked for. And they have their own rules and regulations apart from the journals rules and regulations. So I think advertising again has to follow certain set of rules, but I think it has an appropriate part to play in elections coverage. Editorials, I think we have to go back to what we said earlier. I want the separation of information from opinion, from commentary. And as a journalist working for a newspaper, radio station, TV, or even as a citizen journal, it has to be clear to me, it has to be clear to my readers or listeners what that separation is. And that's what allows for credible media during elections. Absolutely. Absolutely. These are all good points. And I think that you cannot underscore too often the idea that there's a separation between opinion and news. There's a separation between advertising and news and opinion. And the important thing there is transparency so that the people who are viewing or listening or reading your audience understands what it is they are consuming. Another part of that transfer is who's paying for the ad. If we're allowing ads, who's putting the ad for or against? Because there's negative advertising during elections too. So I want a sourcing on the ad. Not just a sourcing in the news. Absolutely. Absolutely. Great points. Let's go to another question since we're trying to fit in as many as we can. Are there any African countries or organizations that have guidelines for election reporting to help assure that governments or electoral bodies will respond to their requests for information about elections from the media? Okay. Go ahead. One of the things on your resource page is some information from SADIC. The South African Development Corporation who came up with MISA, a whole series of guidelines which were sent to us and which have since been put on the resources page that you have that covers a certain number and I didn't check how many southern African states that have signed this charter for about elections. It's well worth reading. There are lots of international ones, whether it's from the International Federation of Journalists, whether it's from UNESCO, whether it's from reporters without borders, those are all on your resource page. They do exist and certain African countries have guidelines that cover this too and they're well worth reading. I think a couple of them are on the resource page also, but they're also on the internet. So they exist. They exist. Read them. It's important for you in your own country to find out what kind of guidelines exist for you because there are a number of individual countries where journalism organizations have worked in collaboration with civil society organizations and others to ensure that there are guidelines before an election takes place. It's important for you to do your research and find out what guidelines exist in your own country. Guidelines are also a source of protection for journalists. There's no argument about credibility, but guidelines, hey, this is the guideline in our country. This allows me to have access to information. You don't want to talk to me? You don't have to talk to me? I'll find somebody else. But you need to know these because there are, again, protection and credibility on your behalf. Okay. Okay. An online viewer asked this question, how can reporters draw upon data such as election voting figures when there is very limited and low access to those figures in many African countries? And how do journalists know that electoral bodies are providing accurate counts? Well, this is absolutely true. How can you depend on the data? Or is there data available? I think that before an election begins, part of the conversation that has to happen is, including when guidelines are being put together, if they are being put together, is about credibility, about data being made available. But you should know that there are any number of ways to get information. You can sit back and wait for the official results. You can go out on the ground and you can also poll the public as media organizations. You can do surveys as people leave the voting booth. There are all sorts of ways to get information while you wait for official data. And in terms of how you can ensure that the information that the data that you are being given is accurate, I think that if you are part of the process all along and are watching how it unfolds and your electoral bodies have a reputation for honesty or fairness or accurate information, you know what you're dealing with. If they don't have a reputation for honesty or fair data, you know what you're dealing with as well. And I think you make a plan according to that. As I mentioned it, I don't know if I mentioned it was in Nigeria, but in Nigeria in the most recent elections there were a number of journalists who were the people I referred to earlier who got to the voting stations and who used social media to put out numbers as they were counted. Judy points that in some countries this may be problematic, but if you're dealing with a situation where there's always questions about the accuracy of the count it's not a bad idea to be there on the ground when votes are counted in particular voting places. I'm aware of elections where election boxes were put in cars and taken to some central counting station and reporters got in their cars with their mobile phones and followed the ballots as they were taken to the station to ensure that they didn't get lost along the way. So you just have to decide based on whether there is a reputation for good and solid information that is provided to the public. Jerry mentioned earlier also about the local and international monitors and observers. They are some of your best sources. You cannot be at every polling place and even your newspaper radio station cannot be at every polling place. But the local and international observers and monitors are there to give journalists feedback. Again, they're gathering a different sort of information and that's part of what you should be covering too. If you can't get the official data and you really don't have access to any sort of data then you need to talk to those people and find it. Do you think this was fair? Did you senior irregularities? Can you tell me what those other regularities are? It is a process and if there is a problem then it's part of the union of journalists or the association of journalists to make a list of these problems to the electoral board to take them to the newly elected government and say we saw the following irregularities. What can we do so that doesn't happen again? You are a part of this whole electoral process as a journalist and as a citizen and as a voter. You want it to be reliable and credible? Do something. Absolutely. Great advice. Those monitors and those observers are tremendous resources for you as well as insurance that the entire process is more fair than it might be without them. Another question from Ibrahim Al-Hassan who is watching us from the U.S. Embassy in Ghana. He asks there has always been the talk about social media and the potential danger during elections and their coverage. As media practitioners should we support any attempt to regulate the use of social media during elections? If not then how do we go about it so we do not fall prey to possible fabrications circulated through various social media platforms? This is an interesting question because certainly social media can be used very effectively by media to ensure that information gets out but also you are right they can be manipulated. There can be false websites, false information just like there can be false and negative advertising. So this is a good question which I'm going to turn over to Judy. What do you think? I think social media has a purpose and I think you should be using social media but I recognize that Twitter and Instagram and even citizen journalists who are not practicing journals may give me misinformation they may give me rumor. So I use them as leads and as a lead they need to be verified. I cannot publish in my newspaper not if I were editor of a newspaper but something that's on Twitter I don't think Twitter is a story I think it needs to be verified I think it needs to be verified by two other sources so how do you know about finding a source for something that someone has sent you a tweet on? Well if you can go back to that person and actually say what's this information where did you get it when did the event happen and all the questions you should be asking as a journalist then you become a source as a journalist and then you still need a second source but to me tweets are leads Instagram are leads and citizen journalists if they have been trained to be stringers it's very easy to set up a stringer network you need to give them some fact check sheets and the questions you need answered every single time then you can use citizen journalists but citizen journalists also need to be checked I'm for using them as a resource using them as a source but verification and they can be a tremendous resource I think citizens want to play more of a role than they have in past years and they can I know that news organizations have set up platforms so that citizens can in fact weigh in and on polling days so that in fact citizens can report irregularities that they have perhaps observed so these are tremendous sources to be verified it's information that you use but you have to do basic good reporting in order to verify information before you put it out as fact so thanks for that Judy another question comes from the consulate general in Lagos from Kalechi with the city people magazine the question is in campaigns where the line is between personal tax and fair game attacks and where the line is between personal tax and fair game attacks that is a tax that is fair game what roles does the media play or have to play in drawing the line I think that is the question roles does the media play in drawing a line between personal attacks and attacks that are fair game I guess game attack is one that's truthful. My personal attack is what's the service to a voter? So I'm not sure if I'm the journalist I would report on either unless I could see what was the purpose, what it's gonna give me the journals to report on to the voter, and what sort of information it's giving it out. I'm not for negative journalism. I'm not for negative attacks during campaigning. I want information on who that person is and what they're gonna do if I vote for them. One person saying he's a bad person and the other person saying no I'm really great the other person is a bad person doesn't further me as a voter and it's all too common in elections around the world that we see. I'm not sure a fair game attack is only fair if it's truthful and you're reporting on oh well he went to court for this or he did fraud and you can prove it. Just saying it is not fair game and the journalist should not be reporting either fair game attacks or personal attacks without verification. Agreed I absolutely agree and and I think that you know what's what's important is that you focus on issues that are really that really provide valuable information to the to the audience and the viewer to attack somebody and simply say that they have a reputation as a liar or their philanderer or they cheat on their wives or whatever this is not relevant to a campaign but to attack someone who has perhaps been convicted of some sort of corruption and to bring that up that may be very very fair. I see that kind of thing as being very very fair game but the most important thing is that as much as possible stick to the issues the candidates positions on the issues the candidates conduct in relation to the issues and and I think that that will do you that will serve you well. So here's another question of viewer from the embassy in cartoon asks how should you report about election rigging if you have substantial evidence. If you have substantial evidence of rigging what do you do about it. OK my question is who do you report to first on anything whether it's rigging manipulation bribery threats would be censorship. I first reported to my boss. I'm sorry. It's something that affects you as a journalist. You may be harassed. You may be threatened. If you write about it you definitely might be threatened. You need to speak out against all the attempts that undo the elections process. First you report it to your boss. Then you report it to the union of journalists or the syndicate of journalists. Then you report it to the elections Commission. And then you and your boss have to make a decision. Am I going to write about this. Will we risk our lives. Will we risk our medium. There are whole series of decisions. But it needs to be known. It's part of why we're journalists is getting out these sort of problems. And it's obviously part of the elections process. Very much so. And there are of course journalists around the world who have to make this kind of this decision all the time about how much you put yourself in jeopardy if you report certain things. And I just know so many journalists who come down on the side of this is why we exist to make sure that the public know about these things. But as Judy said have a plan know what the threats are know what the possible pitfalls are if you do this and have a response prepared you know know what you're going to do if someone is arrested for reporting something. You know have a have a of your lawyers in place have a plan. I think that's the most important thing but it is absolutely vital that people get the information in in whatever way you decide is is best for your organization to put it out. Thanks that was a very that was a very good question. I think there's another question from the embassy in cartoon from Malik Ibrahim he's viewing at the embassy and he asks in Africa in Africa journalists face a lack of no access to information and security challenges. How can journalists report freely in this environment and this is of course one of the things that my my friend Jorge Luis who is an expert on security talks about and and and he talks about these things at length and there are other experts in their resources that are let that you will be provided in the resource list for this program about how you can operate when the environment is really adverse. There are security challenges and information access problems. And I and I think that they're these are some of the things that I've talked about before whether a security challenge challenges have a plan this is this is our mantra have a plan for how you deal with those security challenges have a plan for how you go into a situation that's difficult have a plan for what you do if a member of your organization is is arrested or or or beaten up you know make plans in advance so that you're not caught off-guard and is in terms of no access to information I think you have to do some pretty basic reporting here as well if there is a political campaign going on and there are candidates there are lots of people to talk to the candidates their advisors their official sources who might or might not talk but they're not the only people they're also civil society organizations who monitor policies who monitor people who are positions there are just a wealth of people that you can go to for information and you don't have to you don't have to sit back and wait to be fed any sort of official information so so have a plan for how you get information who you get information from what your best sources are and also how you can oppress for official information as well through your organizations through your journalistic unions or associations how you can push for for for more access Judy do you want to add anything yeah I had said earlier I made a remark of it I'm against packed journalism but I am for protection by our colleagues and if you're all of the journals are having a problem getting access to information then you go back to the electoral commission you go back to you talk to the NGOs at civil society local and international civil society it's a it's an ongoing problem it didn't happen overnight it's either been there for a long time and it hasn't been a resolved by even calling for elections then you need to write about that we cannot get information official sources will not respond to the following questions okay it's a risk even writing that but at the same time the voters need to know that the journalists can't get the information the voters can't get the information therefore the entire electoral process is stunning absolutely absolutely so here's another question from the Embassy in Monrovia Varma at the Embassy there when is it prudent for a reporter to report on election fraud or irregularities and I think we've sort of touched on this in some of the earlier answers about when it's prudent for reporter to to report on electoral fraud I think when you have the information when you have verified information that fraud is taking place and when you have talked with your editors or managers and and you can verify what you have and you can quote some sources or or certainly verify in various ways you you go with it assuming that you made a decision that you don't threaten your life is not in jeopardy as a result or if you have a plan if you think that there are dangers afoot I think that there information can be verified also if you have sources who are willing to be named you have attribution the information came from so-and-so was one of ten people on the electoral board or one of the district campaigner or it's our sources that count again we're back to credibility and that's the information has to be verified and the sources have to be willing to be cited they're all part of the electoral process they're all part of transparency thanks Judy here's another interesting question from does money larry in the chat space does money asks says most journalists are provided with funds and materials by politicians during elections how can these journalists remain objective and fair in their reportage now I would question whether most journalists are but perhaps where you are does money most journalists are but I think they're that this is this raises an ethical question about where you get your money who funds a reporter and whether it is appropriate to accept funding from the people that you are covering I believe how the big question is how can you be fair and objective if you're taking money from a source that you're covering I know that there are journalists who say that well you know we're underpaid but I think that you have to weigh weigh that against whether or not you want to be an ethical journalist with credibility and whether or not this is if you if you can't make a living as a journalist if you're not it or you can't cover your expenses your life's expenses as a journalist whether this is where you ought to be because because it's a very big ethical question whether or not you should be taking funding from from people that you cover on the other hand there are there are there are more clever ways to to assist journalists that I think parties have come up with they might provide free transportation to an event or you might show up in an event and there might be free food this is not as outright but I think that taking money in a Brown envelope is something that really does threaten your objectivity and it completely undermines you as a journalist Judith do you want to add to that? Yeah I agree with you as a journalist who was fairly well paid in the past and who has worked in the Western Western world as a journalist my comment is is if food and transportation is provided to all journalists of all walks of all media who are willing to come and cover the event not just for the food and the transportation then if it's open to everybody then I'm less reluctant if it's they're only going to invite certain journalists from certain media who they know are already pro what they're going to say then I'm sorry they're the journalists accepting that or changing the whole process of electoral coverage because they've already been bought so if the transportation is offered to everybody who wants to cover a media event or a campaign tour or something perhaps but I follow the ethics that Jerry has said and I realize journalists are underpaid and under their underpaid in salary and underpaid in other benefits and sometimes even the the newspaper or the tv doesn't have a car to send you out to cover so what do you do well you get together with other journalists every time it's it's still an ethical and a moral problem it's still one it's a form of bribery it's a form of media manipulation it's a form of corruption you have to make the decision case by case your boss also has to make the decision case by case we're back to who makes these decisions on what we cover and how we cover them if money if you can't do it because you don't have the money then maybe you shouldn't do it I can't answer every situation is different every country and how they do this is different the syndicate for journalists are different it's not an easy it's not an easy answer also you you touch on another issue that isn't isn't directly related to elections but is directly related to the media that you work for that we all work for and that is the viability of the of the organizations that we work for and and if we could just take a take a step back for a minute one of the really important things that has to happen with media across the continent and that is one of the things that is happening is finding solutions to sustainability of journalistic organizations to there are too many that many organizations who pay so little that are their journalists feel that they that they must accept bribes in order to survive well those those organizations we have to find ways to strengthen those organizations make sure they can make money so that their journalists can earn a living journalism is an important field we do an important service for society and we deserve to be paid enough so that we can support ourselves and our families without taking bribes so next question comes from babakir who is viewing us from cartoon the embassy there he writes in third world countries violence always follows elections how can elections be considered a mechanism to the peaceful handover of power yes i think that you're right in the in that that there are many elections that have been accompanied by violence there are also many elections where violence has been averted and the media actually has played a part in helping to to tamp down the atmosphere and helping to to put issues out and to not fan the fires i think there have been a lot of election training that where journalists are taught how to report not only report on the issues fairly and without stirring up trouble or stirring up hate speech or you know causing divisions but also where the media has been used as a vehicle to send messages to the public about the importance of maintaining peace much depends on the people in power and whether or not they want to hold on to it at any cost and they they revert to violence as a mean of hold means of holding on to power but i think that there are not only organizations within a country and in professions like media but there are also international organizations that try to help to promote peaceful handovers of power and i think that they all have to be involved in the conversation in your countries um anything more Judy yeah no i just to emphasize again i think it's part of the education role of the media to talk about these problems before they happen and to offer solutions either the media itself or the experts in the field or examples in other countries where the peaceful handle over power has actually happened i'm for positive examples not negative ones um and and to quote the experts in the international organizations and so on and so forth but our role is also as a teacher and and the media can give positive examples and explain why they're important why they're important to me as the voter why they're important to me as a citizen why they're important to the economy of my country of all sorts of things and and and that should be done during coverage of electoral process not when the ballots have been counted absolutely absolutely here's the next question from Norman Cooper who is viewing at the U.S. Embassy in Ghana Norman asks should a print journalist speak to a radio station when asked about an incident at a polling station even if he or she does not work for that radio station oh well speak to another journalist to get information sure why not but then verify it i think the question though is whether the the print journalist should uh should be interviewed by a radio station or should be make himself available to a radio station if they have seen something about an incident i'm not sure whether the question is whether you should put out the information on a radio station before you you actually put it in your own medium because you have different deadlines and you might be scooping yourself i that may be where you're asking should you talk to a station before you publish the information in your in your new in your print outlet and if that is the case i i think that you you have to make a decision about how quickly you can get that information out and the other the other thing is that these days there are very few print publications that don't have an online hope don't have who don't publish online and can't also put out the information immediately so i think that if you have the ability to put the the information out immediately on your own outlet that's of course your priority um but if you don't and there there are things happening that are damaging the outcome of the election then you really do have to consult with your editor and decide whether or not it's more important to get that information out immediately or to wait until your next deadline assuming you actually have a next deadline and you you're not in a position where you can pop it on to um onto a website immediately and then catch up with it the bigger story later i think that i think it raises another point there's safety in numbers and sometimes journalists pass along information of something that they might not they might be unsure about reporting because it might be dangerous or again we're back to credibility issues um if i were that radio station person getting information from a print journalist i'd still have to verify it unless it was a best friend i mean i you know it's he the print journalist may give me may giving the radio journalist information for his own reasons protection is one of them having somebody else put out the same information as another i'd be skeptical i'd be careful same here and it i'll actually uh if you are in a place where um you expect that they're going to be these kinds of problems maybe your your journalist union can talk about these kinds of issues in advance and have a decision about how you how you can what you collaborate on and how you do it i think that may be the best way to approach it so we have another question from the us embassy in in gambia memoir from gambia asks how do you report on riots or conflicts during an election time when journalists are not allowed by the security forces to report on the issue oh dear this is the gambia and i know that you do have challenges in the gap particular uh challenges in the gambia um because i've been involved with the training of journalists in the gambia and i know that that there are there are places like like yours countries like yours where they're you are not allowed and that you jeopardize your life and safety you might be detained uh i i think that you simply uh have to once again as we i i i repeat what we've said before you you you must be careful about going at going out alone on on your own and reporting things that you think that might land you in jail i think you really just have to um you have to work with your editors your publishers your your media managers your journalist association on how you can you can you can report these things now i know that there are journalists who will very often report for external organizations if you feel you can't publish in your your own country that you you make an arrangement to report get uh and and perhaps not using your your name or your biline but to give valid information to external publications who can who can and can report these things without endangering you but uh but it's a very touchy situation i realize that judy but jerry i'd also recognize that the cry of national security is frequently used by a government to control the media and to not allow them to get the information out that should be put out um and it happens in countries around the world it doesn't just happen in africa that's one of the oh you can't report on this because you may further riots uh i don't know sometimes i think you have to go with it and sometimes i think you have to be careful but it is a decision to be made by the team not by the individual journalist absolutely and it's a tough and it's a tough decision it's a very tough decision but it does have to be made and uh and and you know there are very brave journalists who have pushed the envelopes envelope on these things and you have to make that decision on your own with your organization with your family uh how far you can push the envelope in your own in your own country and your own situation i hope that helps next question comes from lindy um she asks i think she asks can we discuss some creative coverage or storytelling opportunities outside of the obvious political angles particularly in instances where a media organization sends a large team of reporters to the field any interesting examples that have really impressed you i can think of one on my favorite theme dealing with women's issues or dealing with minorities issues which frequently are not covered during elections because they think that the the theory is they don't count well women are more than 50% of voters around the world and minorities are very important to the structure of any country so sending a team out to report on women's issues or minority issues slightly maybe off the beaten path but equally important i'd like to see more of that that's that's an important area that should be covered and also there are issues that are important to communities that can be looked at in depth you know there are places that have serious environmental challenges there are people there are places where there particular health issues that are that are particularly uh challenging to to the population at that time there there are a number of organizations who do polls of the public to find out what issues are most important to them and then you take those issues and really delve into them during the election of what kind of support does the government give to farmers or to infrastructure and go into a community and dig deep into into whether the current government is providing the infrastructural support that's needed or the or whatever is needed to make that and that that area sustainable or meet to help it meet its problems there are ways that you can dig deep into issues that can bring them up and elevate them in in the public discourse so that they can be addressed by the candidates and presumably by the people who are going to be your next government so so there's all sorts of wonderful investigative reporting and in-depth reporting that you can do beyond just the candidates and what they say you can look deeply at issues that are important to you to the public and those are the type of type of creative coverage that can be done by non-political reporters the the economists on the staff the agriculture writer the what the person who covers the the hinterlands which aren't always in the capitals or in the major cities there's a lot of possibilities to coverage during elections that is not directly related to elections but is directly related to voters absolutely so here's the next question mark boy doing viewing the program from the U.S. Embassy in Ghana writes this during counting of votes should the electoral commission allow journalists into the final coalition rooms where it's alleged most of the manipulation of the results are done ah well i think if you can get that uh if you can get them to allow you in you should certainly go in i think any access that you get to the process you should just take advantage of it what do the guidelines allow and what can you do or maybe two different things try it try it try it but don't go alone but don't go alone judy's good advice on mine as well because whatever you report it's good to have somebody else reporting it to in case you're challenged in the future so our next question also comes from gambia aminata sisei of the standard newspaper as a journalist how can you convince the head of the electoral commission to allow reporters present during the counting of votes i think this is the same question commission yes before so i believe we've answered that one for you already aminata so the next question comes from the nation daily nation in Nairobi agri mutambo he writes our challenge on reporting elections here is balancing the factual information while avoiding fomenting ethnic violence how do we balance this given the practice of ethnic politics it seems to me that in Kenya during the last elections this was very much a big question but the election actually turned out not to be as violent as many people had anticipated or as violent as the previous election in the country and partly because of what the media did uh how the media covered how the media talked about the importance of maintaining peace and and certainly did not anything negative to foment violence i think that everyone was incredibly aware of the fact that violence could be could be a problem there could be terrible outbreaks and that in that way uh in that way you uh you help the help with the problem of tamping down the ethnic ethnic violence getting well i i'd almost like to ask a question back and i know you can hear my question but you can't answer it um i'd like to to know whether they the minority areas or these ethnic areas were getting the coverage they needed and whether their issues were getting the coverage they needed in in the media and perhaps part of the violence is the result of not being listened to or not being reported upon very good thank you judy thank you and i'm afraid that was the last question that we can take during this program it is time to close i would like to thank everyone who has viewed this program from the uh listening posts at the various embassies as well as those who have joined us online um uh i i guess i just want to find out if judy if you have any final thoughts before uh before we close um i'm sorry that one of my favorite topics didn't get covered which was gender and sexism in elections coverage so perhaps we can do that in a future future uh telecast um i think today is just a brief review of elections coverage and and it's many challenges and we've provided a whole variety of other resources on the page that is open to you all um it's been my pleasure to participate good luck in your endeavors being a journal is not an easy test what a vital one it uh it has also been my pleasure being here today and and sharing this stage with judy who is a terrific trader and i've i've uh i've enjoyed her comments as much as your questions um this program will be available uh to all the participants via the africa media hub any questions or inquiries can be directed to afmedia hub at state.gov thank you again for participating today you have an essential job in the election process good luck in carrying it out and uh good evening