ELECTION COVERAGE STATEMENT OF CLARE FM
Decisions in respect of editorial coverage rest solely with our radio station.
The objective of our election coverage is to provide as comprehensive coverage as we can of candidates and the issues raised by election. Our aim is for our listeners to receive through our programming a wide range of views about election-related issues and to receive accurate information about candidates and issues and that our coverage will be fair, impartial and objective.
We will achieve this objective in a variety of ways including;
- Our selection of programme contributors.
- The airtime we make available to various candidates.
- Our overall coverage will be fair and balanced but in practical terms this does not mean that all candidates and views can be included in an individual news bulletin, programme item or show.
- The scope of on-air discussions and debates.
- How we structure our election-related programming.
- How our presenters handle on-air interviews and discussions on election-related issues.
- Seeking out a variety of viewpoints on the issues raised by the election.
- It is often the case in news and current affairs coverage, in any radio station, that some items can be live and others pre- recorded for a variety of reasons. Clare FM reserves the right to pre-record an interview or invite the submission of a written statement in lieu of a live interview.
- All decisions (and any edits) are made on the basis of our experience and editorial judgement.
- Clare FM reserves the right to pre-record or edit interviews, audio or press releases for time, balance or legal reasons.
During the election campaign, we will keep records of;
- Who is invited to participate in our election-related programming.
- Who participates in our election related programming.
- The airtime used by each candidate for election-related items (for information purposes only).
Our presenters will play a key role in all our efforts to achieve fairness in our election coverage. This means that they may on occasion adopt challenging positions towards contributors in order to explore and probe a contributor’s position in more depth for the benefit of our listeners. This does not mean it is their personal view.
Where we use social media comments as part of our broadcast output, we will only use comments from candidates that are sourced from official (i.e. personal or party) and verified accounts.
Fair and objective coverage of issues or elections is absolutely core to what we do at Clare FM as an independent broadcaster. Editorial decisions are solely for relevant personnel at this station, and we reserve the right to take decisions on material we broadcast, considering issues including protecting our audiences and staff members. This includes ensuring material is not broadcast which would be in breach of the law, or preventing broadcast of material which would involve a risk of defamation proceedings or potentially constitute hate speech. We may decide to pre-record or decline interviews at our discretion. If we do, we will inform you of the reason for our decision.
Any complaints or representations from candidates in the Local/European elections (as defined in the Coimisiún na Meán Guidelines for the coverage of Elections, available on www.cnam.ie )
or from listeners about the perceived fairness or otherwise of our election coverage should be sent by email: [email protected]
We will give good faith consideration to complaints or representations made in respect of our election coverage. Where we deem it appropriate or desirable, in the interests of fair coverage of the election issues, programming adjustments and / or remediating measures will be taken as soon as reasonably practicable to redress any imbalance or inadvertent lack of fairness we discern in our election coverage.
This Election Coverage Statement will be kept under review during the election campaign and adjusted, amended and / or modified as deemed appropriate or necessary over the course of the election campaign.
Clare FM will be subject to a Broadcast Moratorium from 2pm on the day before, and including the day of voting, during which time we are prohibited from carrying any election related content other than factual information in relation to voting.
