‘Media Houses Lacked Professionalism in the May 21 Tripartite Elections’ – IWPR

The Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has said the media’s news reports during the 2019 tripartite elections were biased.

IWPR consultant, Edrinnie Kayambazinthu, made the remarks during a press briefing which took place on Thursday in Blantyre.

In her remarks Kayambazinthu said the media centered much on the presidential race instead of parliamentary and Local Government elections.

 “We have found that the media reported more on the presidential elections than those of parliamentary and Local Government. That partiality leads to voters making uninformed decisions. Nevertheless, there was positive reporting by the media during the period,” she said.

The report also indicates that State-owned media house coverage was biased towards the governing party while most privately-owned media houses favored the opposition.