Experts discuss role of journalists in election campaign

During pre-election campaigning, journalists in Kyrgyzstan forget their main role — to inform citizens and allow them to make an informed choice. PR specialist Gulnura Toralieva reported this today during the discussion of the terms of the campaign and the rules of election campaigning.

«There is not much regulation in many countries, in the US, for example. Journalists there decide for themselves whether they will engage in agitation or not. But all media workers in the US decide for themselves to inform citizens. It is on the contrary in our country— everyone wishes to agitate, but forget the main role. The UK, Germany have a mixed system. In the UK, television, especially the public, is obliged to inform and decides how to agitate. In Germany, agitation is only carried out through public state media," she said.

Media expert Azamat Tynaev noted that in some countries the media can’t earn on election campaigning — and when they don’t earn money, they are independent and fulfill their direct role.