By Kemo Cham
APA-Freetown (Sierra Leone) Sierra Leone’s Independent Media
Commission (IMC) has warned media houses against publishing or airing unethical
political advertisements that seeks to promote hate speech.
IMC chairman
Alieu Kanu said the Commission is ready to drag to court any media house which
fails to abide by its codes of ethics.
The warning,
which was made Thursday, comes as the Commission intensified its campaign to
have the media toe the line of professionalism, especially in light of the
ongoing electioneering process.
Media
watchers are concerned about the wording of contents to avoid inciting
violence. There are also concerns about how journalists source their news. Some
are on record relying on social media, where many stories are without facts.
Mr Kanu warned
against this, stressing that journalists must seek to cross check their facts
before reporting. He also said journalists should carefully choose the kind of
advertisement they take from political parties.
The
electronic media was also warned to be weary of the kind of guests they invite
on live talk show. Such media houses are responsible for whatever is broadcast
in their medium, regardless of who uttered them, the IMC boss said, singling
out state broadcaster the SLBC and urging it to ensure equal opportunity to political
parties, without fear or favor.
“The IMC
will fall heavily on media houses that fail to comply with our code of
practice. The IMC will be robust this time around,” Kanu stated, adding that no
political party is above the law and so journalists must obey the law without
discrimination.
The IMC
plans to embark on nationwide sensitization tour to remind journalists about
their responsibility to adhere to the media code of practice. Kanu said this is
continuation of its preparation to monitor the media in terms of its coverage
of the elections.
Alongside
the MRCG, IMC and SLAJ recently launched a media monitoring mechanism to
monitor how the media cover the election.
In conjunction
with partners, the commission also oversaw the training of some 500 journalists
nationwide in the run up to the elections.
KC/APA
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