Media workers sharpen election reporting skills during workshop

As anticipation builds for General Elections in St Vincent and the Grenadines, local media practitioners are sharpening their skills to ensure accurate and fair reporting.

A training workshop for this country’s media professionals took place on Tuesday September 1 via Zoom and was offered by the Association of Caribbean Media Workers in partnership with NBC Radio.

Wesley Gibbings, vice president of the Media Institute of the Caribbean which facilitated the event, said journalists are expected to report accurately, and fairly on election campaigns, inform the public about the electoral process, guard against abuses of power and assess the validity of complaints made regarding the process.

Gibbings noted that the media should also work closely with the Electoral Office, as they are essentially partners in the dissemination of information related to the process. As such, he also noted that there should be a level of transparency at the Electoral Office.

The training session facilitated over 40 participants, one of whom was Supervisor of Elections, Dora James.
General Elections have been taking place throughout the region, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facilitators and media practitioners discussed the changes that have had to be made because of the current situation and how it would affect the work of the journalist on a whole.

Kiran Maharaj, president of the Trinidad & Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association gave a presentation on Guidelines for Election Coverage during Tuesday’s workshop as well.