We are but one-quarter of the way through this awesome global 2024 election cycle. So many more votes are set to be cast, some even counted. Candidates are popping up all over. Some might win. Already media outlets are showing signs of cracking. That’s fun to watch, too.
Most seats of the Kuwait National Assembly will be up for election this week, April 4th. It will be only the second recent election held during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The faithful have been encouraged to “vote for whoever they see would honor their aspiration,” said Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA) director general Dheiran Aba Al-Khail, quoted by state news agency Kuna (March 30).
Kingdom authorities have pushed media coverage to encourage voter participation. A daily TV election news program went live a week ago, noted Arab News (March 24), which “includes interviews and discussions with relevant experts.” Emphasizing the need for professionalism in election media coverage, Kuwaiti undersecretary for press, publishing and publications Lafi Al-Subaie added that media outlets must stay away from “offending the candidate or the voter,” reported Kuna (March 19).
Media in Kuwait is almost entirely state controlled. “The media world has undergone a degree of democratisation but state-controlled information still holds sway,” noted Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF). Its 2023 World Press Freedom Index ranked Kuwait 154th, a slight improvement one year on.
Voters in the Republic of Korea (ROK), widely known as South Korea, will elect members of parliament on April 10, though early voting starts five days earlier. By all contemporary measures South Korea is a modern constitutional democracy. The country is known for its highly successful technology sector and very popular music and video exports. It sits in Asia between the Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, known as North Korea. The two Korea’s are polar opposites in every way.
The election campaign officially kicked off this past week, March 28, with all candidates and political party leaders holding rallies. For several weeks, political messaging has reached heated levels not seen before. The government of president Yoon Suk-yeol charged in with defamation lawsuits against opposition media outlets and raids on reporter’s homes and workplaces. Reporters for broadcaster MBC were banned from the presidential airplane and its ad revenues were threatened for inconvenient reporting. Funding was cut for public broadcaster TBS. Media regulator Korea Communications Communication (KCC) was trimmed from five members to two political appointees, reported The Diplomat (March 14). For many reasons, journalism in South Korea is not held in high regard.
This has opened the floodgates of disinformation, largely but not exclusively coming from North Korea. Google suspended political advertising across all its platforms. This includes Google Search, YouTube and Google Play. The decision is intended to “mitigate the risk” of exposure to “potentially misleading or biased content,” reported news agency Yonhap (March 31). On its South Korean homepage, Google is offering links to “reliable sources” for information on voter registration.
South Korea hosted the third Summit for Democracy in the capital Seoul March 18 through 20. Geo-politics and fake news were the main events. "Fake news threatens elections which are the foundation of democracy by inciting people to make wrong decisions based on information that is not true," said president Yoon, virtually, reported Nikkei Asia (March 21). Leaders from 30 democratic countries participated. "The spread of disinformation is a challenge common to all countries and requires common understanding and collaboration at the international level," said Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida, quoted by Japan Times (March 21).
The internet has replaced television – and everything else – as the main source of information for South Koreans, noted Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF). Given the country’s leadership in communication technologies, it is wholly expected. The leading website for news is Navar, operated by the company of the same name. It recently announced development of artificial intelligence products in the Korean language. Navar also operates the wildly popular Webtoon app. In its 2023 Global Press Freedom Index RSF ranked South Korea 47th, down from 43rd one year on.
Parliamentary elections in Croatia will be held April 17th. Incumbent center-right prime minister Andreji Plenkovic is being challenged by current president Zoran Milanovic, who favors relations with the Russian Federation. The process fell into disarray almost immediately as the Constitutional Court ruled president Milanovic could not run for a parliamentary seat while sitting as the country’s president. The Croatian presidential election is scheduled for December. Between the parliamentary election and the presidential election Croatian voters will also take to the polls June 9 for European Parliament elections.
In the run-up to these elections, the parliament approved a whistleblower law making sharing information with reporters a criminal offence. "Politically, (whistleblowing) became too much of a threat for (PM) Plenkovic,” said Croatian Journalists' Association leader Maja Sever, quoted by Deutsche Welle (March 18). “That's why he's trying to put a stop to it." In recent years, Croatia has endured a spate of official corruption. SLAPP lawsuits against media workers and outlets are rife.
Croatia’s traditional media is dominated by public broadcaster HRT, both radio and TV. There are 6 national daily newspapers owned by two publishing companies. In the 2023 Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) Global Press Freedom Index Croatia ranked 42nd, improving on the previous year. Croatia became an EU Member State in 2013.
The biggest election in the world is set to begin in India. Nearly one billion voters will be eligible. Fortunately India is rather well organized, all things considered, and the election is divided into seven parts, based on geography. Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi is the leading voice and taking few risks. Opposition political parties, numbering in the dozens, are fielding candidates up and down the expected ballots. Some of already been arrested and hauled away. This election in India is a numbers game and it’s easy to get lost.
To elect 543 members of the People’s Assembly (Lok Sabha), the lower house of parliament, the first voting phase will be on April 19th.The seven voting phases are not geographically or politically distinct. There will be more than one million polling stations. Ballot counting will be completely electronic, for obvious reasons, results released almost immediately on June 4th. PM Modi’s BJP party reflects Hindu nationalism. A coalition of 24 center-left opposition parties formed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to challenge BJP and others.
India’s news media – described as “vibrant” and “feisty” - is covering the elections as expected, through partisan lens. Most traditional outlets are owned by wealthy individuals aligned with “establishment” loyalties. National newspapers are published in Hindi and English with a few in regional languages. There are more than 100,000 newspapers in the country. It’s much the same with traditional radio and television broadcasting – more than 350 news channels - as well as public broadcaster All India Radio. Digital media, however, is a bit more independent with ownership embraced by a different set of individuals. India’s advertising industry is large and wild, almost any product category can be displayed except alcohol. Digital advertising has eclipsed traditional, noted YouGov (April 1).
“The Indian press is a colossus with feet of clay,” wrote Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) (May 4, 2023). Media watchers generally agree with the verdict. Writing specifically about New Delhi Television (NDTV) the Japan Times (February 26) called the channel’s shift in editorial orientation as “morphing into a government mouthpiece,” citing “fawning coverage of India’s political leaders.” In its 2023 Global Press Freedom Index RSF “downgraded” India to 161 in the world from 150th one year on, lower than Afghanistan.
Voters in the West African nation of Togo will go to the polls on April 20 to choose members of the National Assembly. This will be something new as lawmakers recently (March 25) made changes to the constitution replacing the presidential system with strengthened parliament. News media in Togo have been explaining all of this as related news changes rapidly. Faure Gnassingbé has been Togo’s president since 2005, on the passing of his father General Gnassingbé Eyadéma who seized power in a 1967 coup. Regional elections will also take place April 20.
Editor of Togolese weekly newspaper La Depeche - Apollinaire Mewenemesse – was arrested (March 26), charged with "publication of fake news with the aim of inciting the public or the military to rise up against the state." He had questioned, in publication, “Army General Abalo Kadanghaa’s conviction in the murder of a supporter of President Faure Gnassingbe,” reported AFP (March 29). A judge released M Mewenemesse due to his advanced age, 72 years. Media regulator Haute autorité de l’audiovisuel et de la Communication (HAAC) suspended publication of La Depeche for three months, noted Togolese online news portal Togo Scoop (March 28). Bi-monthly newspaper Tampa Express publisher Francisco Napo-Koura was hauled to court (March 20) to answer a defamation complaint. In February, publication was ordered suspended for major newspaper Liberté.
Two days after the constitutional amendment was signed, 30 opposition political parties and civil society groups organized a press conference to share their concerns. It was to be held at the headquarters of Alliance of Democrats for Integral Development (ADDI). Alas, “30 gendarmes with batons” arrived to break up the meeting, reported AFP (March 27).
Regulator HAAC organized a training session for public media (March 19) to reiterate rules governing election coverage. HAAC director Pitalounani Télou called on the broadcasters to “adopt impartial behavior during these elections.” State media in togo includes Télévision Togolaise (TVT), Radio Lomé, Radio Kara and newspaper Togo Presse. HAAC spokesperson Badibassa Babaka, quoted by business news portal Togo First (March 20). In this regard, the media are called upon "to strictly observe the measures that the HAAC has taken for the supervision, coverage, dissemination of messages and reports from the various lists of political parties, groupings of political parties or independent candidates."
Investigative news portal L’Alternative returned to publishing in early March through a support grant from media freedom advocate Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF). A year earlier it curtailed publication when publisher Ferdinand Ayité and editor Isidore Kouwonou fled the country facing a legal claim of “contempt for authority.” International arrest warrants were issued. “We have kept the flame alive even after a year of absence,” said M Kouwonou, quoted by RSF (March 7). Togo ranked 70th in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index, a considerable improvement over 100th in 2022.
Nestled in South East Europe is the tiny country of North Macedonia. It sits amidst Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Kosovo. The nation will hold presidential elections April 24. Incumbent Stevo Pendarovski is running for re-election against Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, a previous candidate, and Bujar Osmani, current Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Swedish democracy V-Dem Institute (March 7) showed North Macedonia as an “electoral democracy,” compared with Seria, which it called an “electoral autocracy.” Most news outlets are aligned with one political party or another. Online news portals are considered the most professional. Public broadcaster MRT offers one general interest TV channel and several specialist channels as well as three national radio channels. The RSF 2023 Press Freedom Index ranked the country 38th, improving from 57th one year on.
See the March elections and media report here The February report here