Week 5 - Reporting on Parliamentary Procedure in Your Country Date: Apr 6, 2009 8:59:23 AM PDT Author: Brooke Is the general public in your country satisfied with the reporting of parliamentary proceedings in the media? What innovations if any would you make to ensure better reporting? Brooke Prater WBI Parliamentary Strengthening Program parliamentarystrengthening@gmail.com

Reporting of Parliamentary Proceedings Date: Apr 6, 2009 9:20:58 AM PDT Author: Moderator The answer to the first question will depend on at least three factors: what does the public want from reports of proceedings, what does parliament want to have reported and what do the journalists and press want to report? The public in some countries will be satisfied with simple factual reporting but that is only the beginning of the matter. Most people will want some reasoned analysis by journalists familiar with the parliamentary and political scenes. Parliaments have their own rules on reporting. How these are handled and are the press familiar with the boundaries? Are the rules too restrictive or do they encourage fair and informed reporting? Have there been cases of such poor or biased reporting that the speaker or a parliamentary committee has had to look into them? What sort of assistance does the press get from parliament and other sources so that they can perform a good job of work? Are there training courses and seminars available to tem in the country to help them get to grips with the problems of parliamentary reporting/ Are journalists sensitive to the problems of both majority and minority groups including special groups such as the women members of parliament? Answers to the second question should give us some material to reflect upon when each of you tells us all what you would do to ensure better reporting.

Reporting of Parliamentary Proceedings in Rwanda Parliament Date: Apr 6, 2009 9:56:10 AM PDT Author: augu In Rwanda the media is still very weak and is not proactive to report on several activities in general and to the Parliamentary activities in Particular, with a deep analysis. The procedings in Rwanda Parliament and all the meetings all open to the public and the media, but the media did not covers satisfactory Parliamentary activities. For exemple the Rwanda is the first country which has a big number of women in the world, but you can't see any local media which can yet published an article on how Rwanda has acheived this big progress on gender equality, it is done all times but foreign media. The department in charge of press provided all documented on parliamentary activities needed buy the media, but a deep analysis of these document are still lacking. In conclusion, the Rwanda media is not covered well the Parliamentary activities and must be proactive with deep analysis on what legislature done. Many reporting on parliament is like relating the activities which is done, such as oversights activities.

Week 5 - Reporting on Parliamentary Procedure in Your Country Date: Apr 7, 2009 12:03:19 AM PDT Author: Asad The Parliamentary proceedings are reported in the press freely.Media is free and all the proceedings of the Parliament except Committees are open to the media and public.Committees are also some time kept open for the media.The thing is that the recomendations made by the Parliament must be fulfilled.I am working as the Assistant Public Relations Officer and constantly coordinate with media for coverage of the committees and parliamentary proceedings.Journalists are provided all out facilities to ensure accurate and factual reporting.

Week 5 - Reporting on Parliamentary Procedure in Your Country Date: Apr 7, 2009 10:32:02 PM PDT Author: ekky Parliamentary proceedings in the plenary in Uganda are covered live by 2 television stations. One station is government owned and the other is private owned. Proceedings of all committees other than the Appointments committtee and the bussiness committee are also open to the Media. Journalists are treated with respect by both Parliamentary Staff and Mps. In committees they are normally served with refreshments. There are times when committees like Public Accounts Committee have held workshops with the Press as a means of dialogue and building rapport. Despite the above there is a provision in the Rules of Procedure allowing Parliament and its Committees to meet in Camera (closed session) whenever they think it is necessary. Parliament of Uganda has a whole Public Relations Office which among others liases with the press to enable them accomplish their mission. There is also a Parliamentary Press Association with office bearers who regulate the activities of the press who cover Parliament. Parliaments rules of procedure provide elaborate rules covering television coverage of parliamentary proceedings. The procedure emphasizes having due regard to the dignity of the House and its functions as a legislature rather than a place of entertainment. In my assessment the Public is happy with the reporting regarding Parliament. What i find lacking sometimes is indepth analysis of issues, i however belive this will be built over time. Am also not comfortable with the idea of the Appointments Committee and Bussiness Committee meeting in closed sessions. In countries like Ghana the Appointments Committee is open to press. I have also noted that our own Pulbic relations Office is not very visible in the media. They need to be more proactive especially when it comes to explaining what is going on in Parliament and rebutting false accusations whenever they occur. In conclusion am of the view that Media reporting of Parliament is satisfactory. There is however need to provide journalists with more support to enhance indepth exposure of issues. They should also be allowed to cover all Parliamentary proceedings.

Reporting of Parliament in India Date: Apr 8, 2009 3:33:48 AM PDT Author: srm In India the Media is very strong and free. Press is often called an extension of Parliament. Parliament get feedback from the Press and depends on comments ideas etc. Almost all the print and electronic media cover the Parliamentary Proceedings through various programmes. Importance of the issue decide the programme in which these are discussed. Private Channels give priorities to the issue which attract more public attention. Parliament control whatever is released to the Press. No debate or any material expunged by the Parliament is not published or highlighted by the Press. Doing so will call for a privilege issue. There is separate Press and Public Relation Wing to coordinate the activities of Parliament with the media. A Press Advisory Committee of Parliament comprised of senior journalists advise Speaker on the relation between Parliament and Media. There is special facilities for press viz. Press Gallery in the chambers of both the houses, entry into lobby and Central Hall, Library and Reference facility and Press rooms for the media. The Committee deliberation is not open to media in Parliament, however all the reports presented to the House are circulated to the media and in some cases Chairman of the Committee also give briefing to the media on the various reports. The system developed for media is quite healthy in India. However, there is a distinct mismatch between the Parliamentary deliberation and what is highlighted by the media. Media always highlight the juicy part of the parliamentary system. Whenever a demonstration, walk out, running into the well of the house occur media make these things as major news. It is irony that whenever Parliament sits overnight for serious business to pass some long term policy effecting the nation a small news come in the newspaper and it rarely make a news in the electronic media. In India Parliament make a lot of legislation for the development of the common masses, however these action do not reach the people who remain unaware till the informal channel of party system at the grass root level become active. Earlier the TV channel owned by the Government was telecasting the proceedings of the Houses during question hour now Lok Sabha the Lower House of India Parliament has an exclusive channel to telecast the proceedings of the House. It is not only proceedings various issues discussed in the House are discussed during the prime time by the experts and Members. Committee Reports are discussed by the Chairman, experts and Ministry officers. While these are beneficial for the society as a whole, the private channels who survive on revenue of advertisements can not be compelled to telecast these matters without financial support from the Government. Otherwise these channels viewership should cross the boundary of the cities and towns and reach the vast rural masses who are the real beneficiary of the Government measures and Parliament’s survival depends on the faith of the people. Last modified by srm on Apr 8 2009 3:42AM

Week 5 - Reporting on Parliamentary Procedure in Your Country Date: Apr 8, 2009 3:52:24 AM PDT Author: DOCTOR In my country-Cameroon,the press is very vibrant and well deployed to cover institutions like the parliament. However, the coverage they give to parliament is opinionated and very biased based on the editorial policies of the various media houses. While the state owned media gives a government view of parliament,the private media gives its own based on the subject matter it is treating and the influence of public opinion. The is a department of public relations and communication in my parliament but its role to laise with the media is so insignificant because it is the politicians who decide which documents could be given to the press and which press organs could be given access to parliament for detail coverage since our parliament hasn't a media organ. Besides,committee reports and bills are distributed to press organs.The are no life coverages of plenary sittings and committee proceedings,so the public relies on what the journalists who are sent to cover parliament by the various agencies say.N.B.committee proceedings in my country are in camera and only plenary sittings are open to the public and the press. The public in my country's opinion on parliament is subjected to the analysis and reports journalists of the various existing press organs make of parliament. Inorder to improve on this situation,parliament has to have public relations and press service which is dynamic and vibrant to be able to run its own media outlet and run other programs on parliamentary proceedings and activities.This will enhance and improve the public's opinion of the parliament.

Reporting of Parliament in the media in Uganda Date: Apr 9, 2009 8:18:38 AM PDT Author: Tumu Ekky has done justice to media reporting in Uganda. Few points to raise however. In Uganda, the majority of the people especially in rural areas do not receive the major media houses which cover parliament. It is only in towns and city where main media is received. Live televising of proceedings does not have big impact because when the members are in plenary, usually from 2:30 PM TO 5:30 PM, the supposed viewers are in their gardens or work places ekking their living. So im my view, a different approach on reporting on parliament needs to be devised, and I will come to that later, but first, what do people want reported? People would want to see their legislators raise problems of the constituents on the floor of Parliament. They would like to see their MPs present live situations i.e. mentioning roads, bridges, schools, health centres that require government attention, i.e. with facts, figures and maps. They would like to see how their MPs are influencing debates on the floor of the House. They would like to see those MPs who sleep when others are negotiating for their constituents. They would like to see how parliament is grilling public officials who misuse and embezzle public resources. The public would like to see reports where MPs are questioning ministers for shoody work under their docket. The public would like to see members visiting rural constituents, visiting health centres, schools, village wells to appreciate the living conditions of the people. Unfortunately, what is reported by the media is sometimes not what is essential to the people. The journalists would like to highlight conflict between government and opposition views, issues of morality, dress code of MPs, issues about the presidency, first lady, in other words, political sensational news, but less emphasis on socio-economic empowerment and equal opportunities. Of course the editorial policy is to target influential advertizers, who are the big corporate bodies that do business with high political elites. Therefore the targeted audience of the media in Uganda is the big people who can bring business to the media house rather than the small voters whose political value is to renew the mandate of the politico-cum-business magnates at the next elections. In other words, the press is doing business, not charity. Another perspective is the sensitivity of the journalists and clear grasp of the parliamentary procedures. They probably would report the proceedings in an object manner to the benefit of the public if they knew the rules of the game. For example, the budget documents are presented in a technical format, and debate tends to be in technical lingua. The journalists do not follow arguments, and that partly explains why there is limited coverage of the budget processing in Parliament except when they report, verbatim, the budget speech when delivered by the minister of finance every around 15 June of each year. Therefore the level of undertstanding of the rules of the game also determines how the proceedings of parliament are reported in the media.

Week 5 - Reporting on Parliamentary Procedure in Your Country Date: Apr 10, 2009 2:30:37 AM PDT Author: NAMAYANJA [Parliament and the Media in Uganda The Uganda parliament has for many years been open to the media for the public to follow the debates in parliament. My colleagues have provided useful insights on how the media operates but let me debate the matter from the perspective of what matters to the voters and the MPs as well as government. In other words different stakeholders have different interests on what should be reported. Let me start by mentioning the existence of media freedom in the county at large and the parliamentary debates in general. To this effect, there is even an association of parliamentary reporters composed of journalists from the different media houses ie. Television, radio, and news papers. These have access to all proceedings of parliament including plenary and committees. But as I said earlier the different stakeholder have different interests on what should be reported from parliament. To the voters, they would want to know if their problems are comprehensively reported to and that their members of parliament is participating fully in the lobbying for funds to enable them get services. So when the media does not report on particular Member of Parliament, the electorates may not be interested in any report about parliament. Like wise for the MPs their interest is to be heard and seen as working hard so as to win another election. Therefore their primary interest may be on individual performance but not national issues debated in parliament. Some even literally beg journalists to write positively about them, while other may even bribe journalists. This therefore calls for high level professionalism of journalist so that they report objectively. But at times some may succumb to such pressures and report issues that may not be on national significance. On the hand government primary interest is to see the media as friendly by only reporting positively on the business transaction in parliament. Such interest therefore may compromise those working for government media houses and influence them to report on the positives. So whether the media has the freedom and access to parliamentary debates what exactly is reported largely depends on the interests of the key players. All in all in Uganda there has been good attempt to allow the media report on parliamentary proceedings without much restrictions although what is actually reported depends on the balance of interests. The innovation required to ensure balanced or improved reporting include training of parliamentary journalists and emphasis places on the need for proffessionalisms and ensuring that thepublic relation department provide regular press briefings and active participation in media debates especially when the public is redicling parliament. There is need to establish a code of conduct for parliamentary journalists so that they report objectively rather sensational issues or tabloid reporting of private lives of members of parliament.

Reporting of Parliamentary Proceedings Date: Apr 10, 2009 2:48:56 AM PDT Author: Moderator Participants have told us about various types of problems experienced in the reporting of proceedings, arising from such factors as the weakness of the media in some places through to politically biased reporting almost everywhere. There are mismatches between what is said and what is reported, often because journalists are looking for ‘juicy’ episodes to report thus giving another form of bias. As an answer to these, there are calls for more proactive involvement, a phrase used by several participants, by parliaments and their staff, especially by media units where they exist. TV reporting comes in for special attention. Obviously it is a good way of taking parliament to the people but there are comments on the paucity of TV reports and the fact that much of the reporting takes place at non-prime times when people are busy with other matters. Once again, to prevent biases reports and for other reasons, many parliaments are turning to having their own channels from which feed may be given to others. Training seems to be the main need, not only for parliamentarians and parliamentary staff but also for journalists so that they will be more cognisant of the procedures which parliament uses to go about its work and more sensitive to the needs of the country and the constituencies which parliamentarians represent. Colleagues might like to have a glance, if they have not already done so, at the WBI/CPA publications in this area which are listed in the bibliography.