Cebu Citizens Press Council

RESOLUTION ADOPTING INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS
TO NEWS ORGANIZATIONS ON WAYS TO IMPROVE MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE 2010 ELECTIONS

CONSIDERING THAT

The Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) has been holding consultations since the second quarter of 2009 with the stakeholders in the elections, during two CCPC en banc meetings and one session between journalists and the said stakeholders;

CCPC also sent Cherry Ann T. Lim, assistant executive director, to a Philippine Press Institute (PPI) seminar in Cagayan de Oro last Oct. 19 to 21, 2009 to gather information on national media concerns that also bear on local media coverage;

All CCPC consultation and research are aimed principally to improve media coverage of the May 2010 elections;

Some recommendations need to be implemented before the campaign season and election day and may help guide media organizations as well as other stakeholders, including Comelec, police, C-Cimpel and other non-government organizations that strive for the holding of free and honest elections by an enlightened citizenry;

NOW THEREFORE

The Cebu Citizens-Press Council, in an en banc session assembled, hereby adopts these initial recommendations to news organizations and others concerned:

1. Training of journalists on election laws, procedures and ethics, in in-house sessions or joint seminars;

2. Familiarization of news reporters and photographers with the area of coverage, the people they cover, and the political situation in said area of coverage, including customs and habits of the community;

3. Helping educate the voters, through news and features, on a) procedures of voting, especially the shift to automation, b) qualifications of candidates and the issues on competence and integrity, enabling them to make informed choices, and c) safeguards against fraud, inspiring them to help protect the voting and its results;

4. Setting up of a joint Comelec-C-Cimpel-PNP Press Center that will issue updates and clarifications and thresh out problems during the campaign season on election day, during canvassing, and until the winners are proclaimed;

5. Seeking from Comelec guidelines on access to information and disclosure policy regarding such matters as:

(a) data on campaign spending;
(b) which media outlets get copies of the advance results and printed
election returns;
(c) and other unclear or unsettled issues that require Comelec
en banc decision;

6. A reminder on ethical journalism standards and safeguards on safety of journalists so that the practitioners may not themselves become victims of violence, calling their attention to their in-house rules and primers issued by media groups, including the CCPC’s “Tabang!” brochure;

HEREBY URGING

Editors-in-chief of newspapers, news directors of broadcast stations, and heads of the Comelec, Philippine National Police, C-Cimpel, and other partner organizations to implement these recommendations.

ADOPTED this second day of December 2009, in the 17th en banc meeting of the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC), at MBF Cebu Press Center in Sudlon, Cebu City, Philippines.