Islamabad, June 27: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday has issued the code of conduct and guidelines for media coverage regarding the 2018 General Elections in Pakistan which are due in July 2018. The commission has issued the guidelines in order to ensure that the local media provides accurate and verified information to the people regarding the elections and candidates.

The guidelines specifically mention 13 points that the local media has to adhere by while reporting on the General Elections. The guidelines include:

a. News organisations and news media have a duty to inform the public

b. News organisations and news media have a duty to maintain Balance and Impartiality while reporting about the events in elections

c.News organisations and news media have a duty to report freely about the elections without coming under any threat from any organisation or party

d. News organisations and news media have a duty to respect and promote tolerance

e. News organisations and news media have a duty to punish attacks against media personnel and property

f. Limits on prior restraint- There should be no prior censorship on any election coverage, says the code of conduct

g. Limits on media liability- Media not to be held responsible legally for unlawful statements

h. Corrections and replies- Any candidate or party which has been wrongly defamed is entitled to a correction

i. News coverage: All media should also be careful to comply with any obligations of balance and impartiality that the law may place on them.

j. Direct access programmes: Publicly owned media should grant all political parties/candidates airtime and news space for direct access programmes on a fair and non-discriminatory basis.

k. Special information programmes and voter access: During elections, the media should endeavor to provide special information programmes that provide an opportunity for members of the public to put questions directly to party leaders and candidates, and for candidates to debate with each other on policy matters and issues that are of great concern to the electorate

l. Voter education: Publicly owned are obliged to broadcast voter education programmes, at least to the extent that this is not already sufficiently covered by other information initiatives.

m. Opinion polls and election projections: If a broadcaster/newspaper publishes the results of an opinion poll or election projection, they should strive to report the results fairly and in a proper context explaining the scope and limits of such polls that have their own peculiar limitations.

If the reporters and news channels report on the basis of rumours and speculations, a ban can be imposed on them through the code of conduct.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday had issued a 16-point code of conduct for international media and political observers from abroad. If the foreign media houses and correspondents violate the code of conduct, their licenses can get cancelled.

The Foreign media houses who wish to cover the 2018 Pakistan General Elections have to submit an affidavit and adhere to the conduct of conduct and media guidelines issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECB).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2018 07:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).