Election Count 2014 & Legal Implications for Broadcasters

Course details

The second part of the workshop will give participants an understanding of the BAI Guidelines on covering Local and European Elections in 2014.

Training Content

• The first part of the workshop will cover the following :
• Overview of the areas and candidate numbers
• Polling Stations
• Tallying the Votes
• The Quota
• The Counting Process
• Tallying
• Surplus Votes + how they are transferred
• Elimination
• Election of Candidates
• General Advice for Journalists

The second part of the workshop will focus on a review of the BAI Guidelines on covering Local and European Elections in 2014 and the implications for broadcasters.

The BAI Election Coverage Guidelines for the 23rd May European and Local Authority Elections have been in force since 10th March, 2014. The guidelines are, in effect, an extension of the BAI Code of Fairness, Objectivity in News and Current Affairs Programming that came into effect on 1st July, 2013 and must be read in conjunction with that Fairness Code.

Broadcasters need to have in place :

• A statement on your station’s approach to achieving fairness in election coverage, which must be available to candidates if requesteed.
• A clear protocol in place for election content sourced from social media?

Also, your presenters and programme makers must be clear on what they may and may not say on air on in their off-air activities during the campaign?

Stations must also be satisfied that you can give fair coverage to ‘Election Interests’ as well as candidates?

All of these issues will be addressed in this important seminar which aims to equip station personnel to comprehensively cover the election campaign and the election itself.