Activity Details (ID# 1609)

Activity Synopsis

In view of forthcoming local elections in Kaliningrad, the main objective of the Seminar was to give the participants a solid legal and ethical basis for covering elections. In particular, participants should learn to distinguish between propaganda and professional journalism.

 

The Seminar was mainly conducted by three trainers – Daria Miloslavskaya and Anna Sharogradskaya from the Press Development Institute and Vladimir Avdeev from Internews.

On the first day, the speakers gave an overview of the legal and ethical principles that should guide journalists during the coverage of elections and election campaigns. Furthermore, practical examples from election coverage in print and electronic media were given. These examples were analysed from three points of view – legal (accordance to the law, the journalist’s “legal safety” etc.), ethical (ethical and moral aspects of covering, avoiding information damaging innocent people’s interests etc.) and professional (full coverage, providing people with complete and objective information).

On the second day, the trainers introduced the concept of preparing interesting and sharp journalistic material, avoiding legal mistakes and at the same time providing voters with a tool to know better the candidates.

 

The Seminar confirmed that there are many obstacles to fair and objective reporting during election time. There is a tendency in the media to serve political factions rather than the readers and the audience.

However, the material the participants prepared and presented during the Seminar showed that they took into consideration the trainers advice and recommendations.
 

Ten journalists from print and electronic media in the Kaliningrad region.