The Independent Media Commission in a press conference organized today, has published "The monitoring report of the Audio-Visual Media Service Providers during the campaign for the local elections 2021".

The Independent Media Commission (IMC) is responsible for the implementation of Chapter VIII of Law No. 03 / L-073 on General Elections, which specifically sets out the provisions for "Media during the Election Campaign". Therefore, the purpose of the monitoring, for the period 16 September to 17 October 2021, was to evaluate the performance of the media service providers in accordance with Chapter VIII of the Election Law, entitled "Media during the Election Campaign", as well as the Law and bylaws of IMC. This report was conducted by the Monitoring and Analysis Department (DMA) 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.

Twenty-two (22) media outlets were involved in the monitoring, of which:

• Three (3) with national terrestrial coverage (RTK1, KTV and TV21);

• Fourteen (14) 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 Herc, TV Most , TV Iliria); and

• Five (5) with general program that are transmitted through distribution operators (RTK2, Kanal 10, ATV, Klan Kosova and TE7).

Two local / regional terrestrial media outlets (TV Zoom and TV Opinion) are not included in the monitoring, as they were not broadcast for technical reasons.

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. Officers of the Department of Monitoring and Analysis (DMA) during the monitoring period assessed: impartiality in reporting, space provided for SCPs, language used and, in general, compliance with the IMC Guide to Media Conduct during Elections and other relevant bylaws of the IMC. 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. While during the election period in the IMC four (4) complaints were addressed.

The full report can be found here.

Independent Media Commission