Confusing News With Paid Advertisements: Major Violation by Media in Elections

  • 2016-09-18
  • 12

Amman - AKEED

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) has issued a report on professional violations in Jordanian media coverage of election advertisements. It monitored the performance of 20 media outlets over a period of three weeks, from the beginning of media campaigns. The report explained that the key professional violation that was most visible in media performance was confusing paid advertisements with media and news content. These violations were observed on private TV channels and electronic news sites.

The monitoring documented around 624 violations related to confusing news with paid election advertisements during the monitoring period, which was between 17 August and 5 September. This confusion assumed different forms and patterns, depending on the nature of the media outlet. The highest was on TV stations as 314 items were monitored on five TV stations. Then, electronic news sites published 241 items, which clearly confused media content with advertisement material. Eight news sites included in the monitored sample were observed to do this. TV stations and news sites did not state that this material includes paid advertisements. Besides being a violation of professional and ethical values and principles, the seriousness of this practice lies in that it misleads and deceives the public and presents a paid promotion material as editorial material, which was subject to the rules of professional work.

The AKEED report made it clear that separating advertisements from news is a professional and ethical principle, which cannot be overlooked in media coverage. It acquires added importance in the season of election campaigning as the sensitivity of the position of the media increases and competition between political forces to reach these media outlets and influence them becomes fiercer.

News Sites: Unmistakable Confusion and Decline in News Coverage

The AKEED report noted that while many news sites showed less interest in normal news coverage in favor of paid advertisements, many of these sites tried to camouflage their practice and did not separate editorial media content from paid advertisements. Electronic sites designated windows for the parliamentary elections, which had content that included news reports issued by entities concerned with the elections, led by the Independent Election Commission, and advertising material and promotion of candidates, without stating that these are paid advertisements. They presented these advertisements as news. These windows include Parliament, Election Activities, Election Action, Next Parliament, and 2016 Elections. On other sites, 2016 Elections, Parliament, Parliamentary Elections 2016, and Election Action promoted lists and candidates and some had pictures and videos, including 94 items published in the first week of the launch of media campaigns.

As for the content of the published news, monitored by AKEED, it mostly had to do with the announcement of lists and candidates stating their intention to run in the elections. This is in addition to promoting particular candidates and lists by speaking about the activities and platforms of the members of these lists, opening election headquarters, and predicting the strength and success of some of these lists.

The report explained that confusion on news sites assumed several editorial patterns, key of which are the following:

  1. Rephrasing the advertising material that supports a candidate or list in the format of news material in terms of form and content, suggesting to the public that the content is news, and not advertisement.
  2. Manipulating the place of publishing by posting the advertisement material, which has been edited to look like news, inside the news site in places that are usually designated for news material, making the public think that this material is news.
  3. Publishing positions and statements by candidates on subjects that deal with general affairs, such as unemployment, poverty, reforming education, and others or on regional political issues and publishing quotes attributed to the candidate in the form of headlines within the news material without making a reference to the fact that this content is paid advertisement.
  4. Publishing news material for candidates that explains the advertisement material posted on the site sometimes in the form of paid advertisements in a clear manner.
  5. Offering analytical material of the progress of the electoral process, including speculation on competition between blocs and candidates in some districts. These analyses, which, at first sight, appear to be editorial material that was subject to professional rules, present clear advertisement for a certain candidate or list.

It seems that some news sites have been accustomed to concluding contracts that include advertisement material and news content together. This means that the site that obtains this contract is obliged to provide special news coverage of the candidate. Consequently, the coverage is part of the contract. This runs counter to professional rules, which separate editorial policy from advertisements.

TV Stations: Advertisement Campaigns in the Form of Media Material

The report handled this professional violation on TV stations, which have increasingly confused media material with advertisement material in the current elections. This exceeds what was witnessed during the election campaigns of the 17th parliament in 2013. TV stations ranked first in the volume of professional violations in this field. The number of items monitored within the sample, which includes five TV stations, totaled around 314 items over a period of three weeks from the start of election campaigning. AKEED observes the seriousness of this confusion against the background of the growing number of TV viewers and its impact during election campaigning, specifically on the broad social segments of the public that are less knowledgeable and sometimes unable to tell paid advertisement from media material.

The monitoring showed that election advertisement on some private TV stations has been five times greater than media material (news and opinion pieces together). For example, one station broadcast around 21 hours on the elections within one week, including four hours of media and news material and opinion pieces, while the rest was election advertisement, without noting that this was paid advertisement. Most of it was broadcast in the form of news content or general media content.

Besides the continuation of unprofessional practices, which some TV stations had witnessed previously, including not separating ownership from editorializing; in other words, not having editorial decisions of the station independently from capital, specifically when the owner of the station or one of his relatives is a candidate in the elections, the current campaign saw an unprecedented act of misleading viewers by not separating advertisement material from media material. AKEED monitored many forms and patterns, which this practice assumed, including:

  1. Broadcasting TV programs for candidates to present their platforms and slogans in the form of media TV programs although these advertisement programs are paid. These stations had not previously stated that this program was open to all candidates or that it was paid or unpaid. One exception was Jordan TV, which carried unpaid election advertisements for candidates, and this was repeatedly announced on the screen. The candidates who wished to seize this opportunity were given equal time.
  2. Broadcasting paid advertisement material in the form of news on the news ticker, on which viewers usually read news, without making any reference to the fact that this was paid advertisement material.
  3. Full broadcasting of the opening of election headquarters of some candidates and electoral lists, which could extend over two hours, without stating that this was paid advertisement material.   
  4. Some stations dedicated a news ticker to the news of one electoral list to the exclusion of others throughout the days of the campaign despite the fact that the ticker had a general title, such as "Jordan Elects."
  5. Some TV stations turned some of their previously scheduled talk shows or general news programs into programs for broadcasting paid election advertisement without making a clear reference to the fact that what is broadcast is advertisement material.

Confusing paid advertisements with media material in the daily press and on the radio stations that were monitored was much less. The monitoring counted 47 cases in the printed press and 22 cases on the monitored radios, which are four radios. Some daily newspapers adopted paid advertisement campaigns for some candidates and lists, which made them sometimes commit clear professional violations in publishing reports and news about some candidates that promoted their advertisement campaigns. This makes the classification of these reports and news as advertisement published in the form of news misleading.     

According to Article 7 of the Press and Publications Law, the ethics of the press profession are binding on journalists. These include not bringing or obtaining advertisements. Article 9 of the Press Code of Honor states the following: "The mission of the press requires accuracy and objectivity. Practicing it requires verifying the accuracy of information and news before publishing it. Journalists may not publish unconfirmed, misleading, or distorted information or advertising material, including pictures, articles and comments. Also, there should be a clear distinction between fact and opinion and news and opinion."

In addition, Article 17 of the code states the following: "Advertising material may not be confused with editorial material. There has to be a clear distinction between opinion and advertisement so as not to convey political opinions and views or propaganda to the reader in the form of editorial material." Clause 4 of the same article states the following: "It must be explicitly stated that this advertising material (whether editorially or otherwise) is an advertisement."