EU EOM Media Monitoring

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) will observe the 18 th December Municipal, Legislative and PARLACEB elections, and the 15th March Parliamentary elections in El Salvador in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the electoral process and then offer an impartial, balanced and informed assessment of the elections. In order to carry out this brief, one part of the Election Observation Mission is devoted to monitoring the media coverage of the elections.

The EU EOM monitors media coverage of elections in order to assess:

• Whether political parties and candidates gained fair access to the media.
• Whether the media and the authorities abided by the rules and regulations covering their conduct during the campaign.
• Whether it was possible for the public to gather sufficient information via the media to assist them to make a decision on Election Day.

There is a team of six media monitors trained in the quantitative and qualitative methodology of the European Institute for the Media to measure the time, space and tone devoted to the political parties and candidates in a cross-section of the Salvadorian national media. The team monitors the following media:

- TV stations: Channels 2, 4, 6, 12, 21 and 33

- Radio stations: Radio El Salvador, Radio Cadena Cuscatlán, Radio YSU, Radio Maya Visión

- Daily newspapers: La Prensa Gráfica, El Diario de Hoy, El Mundo, Diario Co Latino, Mas!

The results of the monitoring are analysed regularly and used to keep the EU EOM informed on media developments. The analysis will also form part of the EU EOM's assessment of the election process. The Media Expert of the EU EOM will gather information to assess any complaints made by the parties on the quality or quantity of their media coverage and how they were dealt with. He will also meet with representatives of the media to discuss their views on the coverage of the political parties and candidates.