|
The role of the media in
political advertising
By Prince Tony Momoh
Contiued from last week
Some time ago my attention was drawn to what looked like an announcement by
the Advertising Standards Panel of APCON in which a campaign called Ad
Checks was asking for cooperation from the people. This is a campaign
against unwholesome ads in the media. Obviously this type of advertisement
is inserted in the media by advertising agencies or the advertisers
themselves. What the campaign is wanting to do is to ensure that such
unwholesome adverts are stopped from publication. Prior vetting, which many
would frown at as prior restraint which media owners see as censorship and
would never endorse, is meant to avoid exaggerated, dishonest
advertisements, unsubstantiated claims and other detestable advert contents.
These are rushing in now that many are expressing interest in the 2007
elections. Promotional or advocacy ads are dominant now but those aspiring
for their party tickets can only promote themselves now until the whistle is
blown and run-them- down schemes emerge from their political armouries.
The Advertising Standards Panel message says, have you seen, read or heard
an ad that you consider as inaccurate, make false claims, exploits human
misery or is in bad taste? Take a bold step today. That bold step can be
taken once or twice or even three times. But what will be the outcome of
such reports? What is the legal status of the Advertising Standards Panel of
APCON? With whom can it deal? Has it any to ask the owner of a medium to
explain why an advert that makes false claims was published? If the medium
operator humours the panel by appearing, he may say' that there was no way
he would have known that the claims were false. He would say that advertiser
had provided a letter of indemnity against libel or any other term of action
and that he would hold the advertiser responsible if any storm that may
break over the advert he had given the medium owner to publish. The medium
owner would say that as the owner of the medium, he sustained his business,
which the medium is, through paid advertisements! If he rejected the advert
that turned out to have made false claims, the advertiser would have gone
elsewhere! These are few of the roadblocks on the way of the ASP to any
success it may have dreamt of.
There is no doubt that the importance of advertising has steadily been on
the increase since the world started to come closer because of massive
improvements in communication and in every other way of doing things.
Competition for the tastes of the relatively less fast-growing populations
whose resources are even more limited, has therefore become even more stiff,
so much more stiff that marketers of products find themselves pushing for
ways that may offend the values of the polity. Even the Papacy has had to
issue a statement on advertising. The statement, by the Pontifical Council
for Social Communications, discusses the role and responsibilities of the
media, which it refers to "gifts of God" which must bring people together
and "help them to cooperate with His plan for salvation." The document,
entitled Ethics of Advertising comprehensively deals with the benefits of
advertising (economic, political, cultural, moral and religious); the harm
done by advertising (economic, political, cultural, moral and religious);
some ethical and moral principles that should guide advertising
(truthfulness in advertising, respect for the dignity of the human person,
and advertising and social responsibility).
Electoral laws
In March 2005, there was a stakeholders meeting at Abuja on Electoral
Reform-- Building Confidence for Our Future. Many areas were addressed and
suggestions made for consideration in packaging our electoral law. Some of
the suggestions of interest are:
1. Campaign Finance and Conflict of Interest
Participants agreed that corruption in Nigerian politics undermines
democracy and requires constant vigilance by government and citizens. The
best approach to stemming political corruption, as seen in many countries,
includes regulations on contributions and campaign expenditures by parties
and candidates, along with clear rules on conflict of interest. The
participants recommended that the National Assembly considers the issues of
political finance and conflict of interest.
Either within the new Electoral Act or in separate legislation, needed
reforms would include:
a) Regulations on party funding specifying sources, use, and disclosure;
b) Limits on financial involvement in politics by individuals and companies
c) Clear criteria regulating conflicts of interest by parties and
officeholders
d) Strict separation of government resources (at all levels) from political,
campaign and personal funds
e) Provisions for equal access to political parties and candidates in all
forms of media.
f) There should be a review of the current levels and mechanisms for public
funding to political parties. Increased public funding for campaigns, if
well regulated under fairs rules of distribution, could be an important
antidote to the undue influence of “moneybags” and ‘godfathers.”
g) Political contributions, campaign donations, and spending by parties and
candidates must all be subject to rules of disclosure. Complete and timely
declaration on the web is essential. INEC and other appropriate authorities
also need to use their regulatory authority to ensure equitable access to
the media.
2. Enforcement.
Many conference participants agreed that the biggest problem is enforcement
of rules. or rather a lack of it. The roles, responsibilities, and authority
of the following institutions are crucial:
a) Election Tribunals which must be adequately funded, staffed and trained;
the transparency of their activities must be sustained. While providing
better resources for tribunals to exercise their obligations, government
should also give consideration to setting time limits for processing
complaints before the tribunals. Electoral disputes must be legally resolved
within a reasonable period after elections.
b) Independent National Electoral Commission. INEC’s responsibilities
regarding campaign finance, media access, security, and election monitoring
must be reviewed and clarified as early as possible prior to the next
elections. These prerogatives should be published and communicated promptly
to all political participants and the general public.
c) Special enforcement Bodies. Certain regulatory and enforcement tasks may
be referred to the regular courts, or delegated to special enforcement
bodies. Oversight of’ campaign finance, conflict of interest, or media
access could be overseen by dedicated agencies or special units. These
responsibilities should be established promptly.
3. Security.
60. Participants noted that violence, intimidation and insecurity continue
to be major concerns for the election process. In order to ensure violence
free elections they recommended the need to involve the security agencies,
parties, candidates and campaigns and civil society.
a) Security agencies. The army should not be involved in the administration
of elections. The police should receive special training in order to enable
them to secure the election, guarantee the secrecy of the ballot, and
prevent violence and intimidation.
b) parties, candidates, and campaigns. Conflict management must include
agreements among parties and candidates to restrain supporters and resist
provocation. Regular consultative mechanisms among parties, campaigns, and
security agencies should be initiated at federal, state and local levels,
particularly in known trouble spots.
c) Civil society. A number of conflict resolution groups, community-based
organizations and religious groups have mechanisms that can assist in early
warning and the alleviation of conflict, especially at local levels. These
groups should be invited into local consultative mechanisms with other key
stakeholders, and they should be encouraged to support security agencies or
political groups in the management of tensions in conflict-prone areas.
The Electoral Bill 2006 has since been signed into law by the President. I
have been unable to lay my hands on a copy, but I had access to the
harmonized copy of the National Assembly which was sent across for assent.
The Act makes comprehensive provisions for three phases of the electoral
process the pre-election period; the election itself, and the post-election
period. Of interest to this discourse are sections 101, 102, 103, 104 and
105 of the Act which respectively speak for themselves and provide as
follows:
101.
For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by
political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours
prior to that day.
A registered political party which through any person acting on its behalf
during the 24 hours before polling day:
(a) advertises on the facilities of any broadcasting undertaking: or (b)
procures for publication or acquiesces in the publication of an
advertisement in a Newspaper, for the purpose of promoting or opposing a
particular candidate, is guilty of an offence under this Act and upon
conviction shall be liable to a maximum fine of N500.000.
(1) A government owned print or electronic medium shall give equal access on
daily basis to all registered political parties or candidates of such
political parties.
(2) A denial of such access and equal time constitute an offence punishable
in the first instance with a maximum fine of N500,000 and the withdrawal of
the license of the offending electronic media house by the National
Broadcasting Commission for a period of 12 months on any subsequent
violation.
(3) A person other than a political party or a candidate who procures any
material for publication for the purposes of promoting or opposing a
particular political party or the election of a particular candidate over
the radio, television, newspaper, magazine, handbills or any print or
electronic medium whatsoever called during 24 hours immediately preceding or
on polling day is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a maximum
fine of N50,000 or imprisonment for six (6) months or to both.
103. (1) A candidate and his party shall campaign for the elections in
accordance with such rules and regulations as may be determined by the
Commission.
(2) State apparatus including the media shall not be employed to the
advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate at any
election.
(3) Media time shall be allocated equally among the political parties at
similar hours of the day.
(4) At any public electronic media, equal airtime shall be allocated to all
political parties during prime times at similar hours each day, subject to
the payment of appropriate fees.
(5) At any public print media, equal coverage and conspicuity shall be
allotted to all political parties.
(6) Any public media that contravenes subsections 3 and 4 of this section
shall be guilty of offence and on conviction be liable to a maximum line of
N500.000 in the first instance and to a maximum fine of Nl,000,000 for
subsequent conviction.
104. (1) A person, print or electronic medium who broadcasts, publishes,
advertises or circulates any material for the purpose of promoting or
opposing a particular political party or the election of a particular
candidate over the radio, television, newspaper, magazine, handbills, or any
print or electronic media whatsoever called during twenty four hours
immediately preceding or on polling day is guilty of an offence under this
Act.
(2) Where an offence under subsection (1) of this section is committed by a
body corporate, every principal officer of that body is equally guilty of an
offence under this Act.
(3) Where any person is convicted of an offence under this section he shall
be liable:
(a) in the case of a body corporate to a maximum fine of N500,000 and
(b) in the case of an individual to a maximum fine of N100,000 or to
imprisonment for 12 months.
105. Any candidate, person or association who engages in campaigning or
broadcasting based on religious, tribal, or sectional bias for the purpose
of promoting or opposing a particular political party or the election of a
particular candidate, is guilty of an offence under this Act and on
conviction shall be liable to a maximum fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for
twelve months or to both.
Conclusion
The problem with our laws has never been that they are not there, but that
we observe them more in the breach the observance. A country that chooses to
walk the democracy highway has chosen to achieve justice through the rule of
law. Any attempt to disobey court orders is to that extent a denial of one
of the most cherished weapons of democracy, that of sustaining maintaining
and promoting due process.
MOMOH, a former minister of Information presented this paper at a workshop
on Challenges of the Media Industry in Nigeria organized by the Nigerian
Press Council at Peninsula Resort, Lagos.
.
|
SITE TOOLS |
|
Print This Page
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19 2006