Undersecretary: Official media committed to impartial, objective election coverage

Manama, Oct. 25 (BNA): Undersecretary of the Information Affairs Ministry, Dr. Abdulrahman Mohammed Bahar, has stressed that the national media, in all its printed, audio-visual and electronic channels, is an essential partner in ensuring the success of the fifth parliamentary and municipal elections, being a new chapter in the continuous political and democratic achievements attained during His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s prosperous era.  The undersecretary made the statements while meeting the Information Affairs Ministry’s assistant undersecretaries, directors and the Director-General of the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), and Acting Chief Executive of the National Communication Centre (NCC), with whom he discussed the latest preparations for the media coverage of the upcoming parliamentary and municipal elections. He highlighted the keenness of the Information Affairs Ministry, upon directives of Minister, Ali bin Mohammed Al-Romaihi, and since the issuance of Royal Order 36/2018 on setting the dates of the parliamentary elections and candidacy, to provide a comprehensive "impartial, objective and diverse" coverage of the electoral process, in cooperation with the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission, the Higher Committee to oversee the integrity of elections and other relevant government departments. He also said that the Information Ministry continues providing the necessary administrative, technical and logistic equipment to facilitate the work of media personnel, editors and photographers and enable them to carry out their professional duties freely and easily, in order to highlight the outstanding historic democratic event across various local, Arab, regional and international newspapers, radio stations, TV channels and news agencies. The undersecretary affirmed that work is in full swing to prepare the elections’ media centre at a hotel in Manama, noting that the centre will include the necessary technical and logistic equipment that facilitate the tasks of media outlets covering the elections. He added that the media centre will provide journalists and media personnel with official data, reports and information, as well as respond to their inquiries, and facilitate holding press, radio and television interviews by providing new studios, well-equipped venues for live radio and television broadcasting and press rooms with integrated ICT networks. Bahar asserted the commitment of the official media, represented by BNA, radio stations and TV channels, to impartial and objective coverage of the electoral process through calling on the citizens to participate and elect qualified and specialised candidates who are capable of representing them in the Council of Representatives and municipal councils so as to support the continuous political and democratic reforms under HM the King’s pioneering Reform Project.