What to expect if media outlets don’t commit to NEC regulations

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Thu, 11 Jan 2018 - 12:26 GMT

BY

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 - 12:26 GMT

Egyptians living in Jordan cast their ballots for the presidential election at the Egyptian embassy in Amman. REUTERS

Egyptians living in Jordan cast their ballots for the presidential election at the Egyptian embassy in Amman. REUTERS

CAIRO – 11 January 2018: As the presidential elections approach, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has announced several punishments to be enforced on both national and international media outlets that fail to commit to its announced regulations.

The announced punishments are as follows:

• If a media outlet preaches the announced regulations in one of its stories; it is to publish an official apology to the readers within an appropriate space.

• The media outlet is also to publish a clarification of its editorial policy and state that it has violated it along with the agreed regulations of the 2018’s elections. The clarification will be reviewed by the NEC before publishing.

• The media outlet that violates the agreed regulations will be banned for a period of time determined by the NEC from publishing any coverage of the elections including photos, polls, stories or small news.

The outlines of media coverage for the elections were announced by NEC on January 8, stating that:

• Opinion and news stories are not to be mixed in one piece
• Media outlets should commit to accuracy
• The titles should reflect what is inside the story itself
• Choose the photos carefully
• Media outlets should avoid both generalization and omission in stories
• To refrain from asking voters about their candidates
• To refrain from conducting polls in front of the elections committees or during the elections
• To give the same space for all candidates in the published newspapers, and announce that the right of response is granted to everybody
• To refrain from publishing a candidate’s program after the determined timing for publicity by the NEC
• To refrain from using religious labels

Voting in the 2018 presidential elections in Egypt will start on March 26, as announced by the National Electoral committee (NEC) on Monday, January 8. Sixty million eligible voters will cast their ballots in the election on March 26-28 in Egypt, while expatriates will vote on March 16-18.

In a press conference held by NEC Chairman Lasheen Ibrahim on Monday, he affirmed that the final list of candidates will be announced on February 24, noting that the deadline for any candidate to withdraw will be on March 1. The primary results of the first round of the elections will be announced on March 29, after decisions on appeals submitted by candidates, if any, are made.

The final results of the first round will be announced on April 2.

If no candidate obtains the majority of votes, a three-day run-off round will commence in Egypt on April 24, and on April 19 abroad.

“The name of the winning candidate will be announced on May 1,” Ibrahim stated.

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