The Independent Media Commission has published today the "Monitoring Report of Audio-Visual Media Service Providers during the campaign for the 2021 Early Elections, for the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo".

The purpose of the monitoring for the period 3 to 14 February 2021, was to evaluate the performance of the media service providers in accordance with Chapter VIII of this Law, entitled "Media during the Election Campaign", as well as the Law and bylaws of the IMC. This report was conducted by the Monitoring and Analysis Department (MAD) of the Executive Office and presents the findings from the monitoring of the media outlets during the coverage of the election campaign and the period of election silence until the official closing of the polling stations.

The report presents the findings from the monitoring of the performance of the media service providers which have covered the early election campaign for the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.

Twenty-two (22) of audio-visual media service providers are under monitoring, of which:

• Three (3) with national terrestrial coverage (RTK1, KTV and TV21);
• Fourteen (14) AVMSP with local / regional land coverage (TV LIRIA, TV FESTINA, TV PRIZRENI, TV BESA, TV MITROVICA, TV PULS, TV TEMA, TV VALI, TV MIR, TV DUKAGJINI, TV SYRI, TV OPINION, TV HERC, TV MOST); AND
• Five (5) AVMSP with general program that are transmitted through distribution operators (RTK2, Kanal 10, ATV, Klan Kosova and TE7).

Two media outlets with local / regional land coverage (TV ZOOM and TV ILIRIA) for technical reasons were not included in this monitoring.

During the monitoring process, the focus was on all forms of media presentation of the election campaign such as: news editions, political advertising points, election chronicles and interviews and debates broadcast from 16:00 to 24:00.

The monitoring findings show that the presentation of the election campaign by the media, was mainly objective and impartial, in accordance with the provisions of the media in the Law on Elections and the Code of Ethics for Audio-Visual Media Service Providers.

It is worth mentioning that during the election period in the IMC no complaint was addressed by any party.

INDEPENDENT MEDIA COMMISSION