Reporting Elections

Public media has a duty to inform the public about relevant matters during the general election and to inform the public on how to go about voting. Parties and candidates have a right to airtime and to be treated fairly and indiscriminately. The media has to make sure that they give each party an equal amount of airtime to ensure that they come across as impartial.

During elections, special laws exist to protect the democratic process. Not only is there the civil law on libel which need to abided by journalists but there are also criminal penalties which may result from false statements being made about candidates. It is a criminal offence to make or publish a false statement about the character or conduct of an election candidate under section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983. It is also an offence to publish a false statement that a candidate had withdrawn from the election.

Journalists are not protected by any privileges when reporting what candidates have said about one another. They are still open to being sued for libel and defamation. However journalists are covered by qualified privilege when reporting public meetings and press conferences if it is done accurately and fairly.

It is an offence for anyone but an election candidate to pay the expenses for an election advert. This includes publishing an advert in a newspaper on behalf of a candidate without them being aware of it. Doing such a thing is of course going to disrupt the democratic process and bias the election. Journalists and media organisations are required to remain impartial during the election period in an effort not to bias the election.