Summary
The appointment and functioning of regulatory authorities should be transparent.
Election Parts
Quotes
- The Assembly therefore calls for greater commitment to safeguard journalists’ security and freedom and to uphold media pluralism and independence. It recommends that the Council of Europe member States: (…) 7.5. ensure transparency of the operation of regulatory bodies; the provisions for their appointment, mandate and powers must secure their independence from any influence, especially from governments.
- The appointments process for members of a regulatory body should be open and transparent, involve the participation of civil society, and shall not be controlled by any particular political party.
- Invites broadcasting regulatory authorities to: be conscious of their particular role in a democratic society and their importance in creating a diverse and pluralist broadcasting landscape; ensure the independent and transparent allocation of broadcasting licenses and monitoring of broadcasters in the public interest; contribute to the entrenchment of a 'culture of independence' and, in this context, develop and respect guidelines that guarantee their own independence and that of their members; make a commitment to transparency, effectiveness and accountability.
- Alerts member states to the risk of misuse of the power of media in a situation of strong concentration of the media and new communication services, and its potential consequences for political pluralism and for democratic processes and, in this context; 2. draws attention to the necessity of having regulatory measures in place with a view to guaranteeing full transparency of media ownership and adopting regulatory measures, if appropriate.
- The independence of the [media regulatory] authorities and bodies referred to in the previous paragraph should be guaranteed by ensuring that they have open and transparent appointment and dismissal procedures; have adequate human and financial resources and autonomous budget allocation; function according to transparent procedures and decision making; are open to communication with the public; have the power to take autonomous, proportionate decisions and enforce them effectively and that their decisions are subject to appeal.
- States should adopt specific measures to protect the editorial independence and operational autonomy of public service media by limiting the influence of the State. The supervisory and management boards of public service media should be able to operate in a fully independent manner and the rules governing their composition and appointment procedures should be transparent and contain adequate checks and balances to ensure their independence.
- Accordingly, the Assembly calls on member States to review, where necessary, their regulatory frameworks governing media coverage of election campaigns, in order to bring them into line with Council of Europe standards, ensuring in particular that they: (...) 8.11. enhance the operational capacities of media regulators which must be independent of the political and economic powers; in this regard: 8.11.1. ensure that the composition of these bodies is politically neutral and based on media expertise and competence.
- Any administrative body which has the power to oversee rules relating to the media during election periods should be independent of the government and its decisions should be subject to timely judicial review.
- All public authorities which exercise formal regulatory powers over the media should be protected against interferences, particularly of a political or economic nature, including by an appointments process for members which is transparent, allows for public input and is not controlled by any particular political party.