Role of media in elections focus of OSCE-supported presentation in Montenegrin Parliament

The role of media monitoring and regulation, media coverage and the role and impact of social network platforms during elections was the focus of an OSCE Chairmanship-supported presentation by Slovak media expert Rastislav Kužel in the Montenegrin Parliament on 12 March 2019 in Podgorica.

Addressing Members of Parliament and media representatives, Kužel drew on his rich international experience to explain how media monitoring is crucial to ensuring good quality journalism during an election, enabling citizens to make informed choices. “Monitoring is recommended by the OSCE and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),” he said.

Kužel also stressed the need for a strong and independent media regulator: “The media regulator has to ensure that media reports are in line with the existing law.”

In her welcoming speech, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Maryse Daviet, said that free and fair media are the backbone of every democracy. “The media should make an additional effort to give citizens a clear and impartial picture of the society in which they live. This is particularly important in electoral processes because all actors deserve fair coverage and equitable media access to ensure full and effective representation of citizens’ views and interests,” she said.

The President of the Parliament, Ivan Brajović, said that media provide political actors with an opportunity to present themselves and their programmes during election campaigns, to open a debate on issues that allows citizens to decide whom to give their trust. “The parliamentary majority continues to be ready to improve electoral legislation and the overall electoral environment, implementing recommendations of international observation missions,” said Brajović.

The Ambassador of Slovakia, which holds the 2019 OSCE Chairmanship, to Montenegro, Roman Hloben, said that the media, together with social networks, are the strongest communication weapons and significantly influence the decision-making of citizens and their everyday life. “The social responsibility of all of us is to create order in the media world, so that not just anyone can write whatever they want when they want, without credible sources,” Hloben said. “At the same time, media independence must be preserved,” he added.

The presentation was a part of the Mission’s and OSCE/ODHIR’s continuing support to the Montenegrin authorities in implementing OSCE/ODIHR recommendations stemming from the 2016 and 2018 elections.