Media Representationsof Election Observationin Africa Preliminary Findings
Thomas Molony and Robert Macdonald

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School of Social andPolitical ScienceAbout the research projectThis updated working paper (Jan 2023) by Thomas Molony and Robert Macdonald provides preliminary summary findings
from the ‘Local Perceptions and Media Representations of Election Observation in Africa’ research project. It is based at the
University of Edinburgh and funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Through three country case studies – Zambia, The Gambia, and Kenya – the project investigates:
1) Local perceptions of election observation missions
Despite being of great interest to observer groups, the views of citizens in the countries that host election observation
missions are generally overlooked in the academic literature on election observation. In addressing this gap, the project
develops understandings of how people in host countries evaluate the goals, methods, and performance of election
observation initiatives.
2) Media representations of election observation missions
The project develops understandings of how information produced by, and relating to, election observation missions
circulates via traditional and social media, as well as the ways in which it can be distorted through this process.
The authors conducted research alongside co-investigators from partner organisations based in the case study countries:
Marja Hinfelaar and O’Brien Kaaba at the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (SAIPAR), Zambia; Sait Matty
Jaw at the Center for Research & Policy Development (CRPD), The Gambia; and Racheal Makokha at the Technical
University of Kenya.
For details visit our website at: https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/lmeo.

Methodology
The summary findings presented here draw on three main methods of data collection: a series of qualitative interviews withjournalists and editors, a media tracker that captures details of media coverage of election observation, and attendance atelection observation missions’ press conferences.
40 in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with journalists and editors who are based in the casestudy countries. Mostly they are employed by domestic media outlets, but a small number work for international media
organisations. Many of the respondents are senior editors and journalists, often with decades of experience at media
houses, although a smaller number of more junior reporters were also interviewed. Additionally, we interviewed one
consultant and two academics, all of whom formerly worked as senior journalists and now specialise on media across
Africa. In all cases, interviews were conducted in English and posed a series of open-ended questions relating tointerviewees’ working experience of election observation coverage in the media. Social media was included as a defined
topic of questioning, but the focus of interviewees’ replies was usually on traditional media content, including newspapers
and news websites, radio, and television. 14 interviews took place in Zambia in November 2021, led by O’Brien Kaaba. 15
interviews took place in The Gambia in March 2022, led by Thomas Molony with Muhammed S. Bah. 12 Kenya interviews
took place between August and December 2022, conducted variously by Robert Macdonald, Racheal Makokha, Thomas
Molony and Lavinia Muhoho.
We also tracked instances where election observers were mentioned in media coverage of the three case study elections ina specially created media tracker spreadsheet. Research assistants – Charles Simwanza and Kalonde Mutuna in Zambia,
Ya Sally Njie and Lala Touray in The Gambia, and Lavinia Muhoho (working with Racheal Makokha) in Kenya – were tasked
with following a range of pre-selected print and broadcast media in the months leading up to each election and in the
post-election period. They continued to update the tracker until stories featuring election observers stopped appearing ineach country’s media. With the project ongoing, we are yet to conduct a detailed analysis of the data collected in our media
tracker. However, some preliminary observations derived from it are included below.

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The authors also attended citizen, regional, and international election observation missions’ press conferences in each casestudy country. These included pre-election briefings, often given by citizen observer missions, and events at whichobservation missions launched their preliminary statements, usually two days after election day. At each event, we recorded
notes on key dynamics relating to the media, including attendance levels and the questions posed by journalists.

Image 1: Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, head of the East African Community Election
Observation Mission to Kenya, talks to the media at Moi Avenue Primary, Nairobi, 9 August 2022 (Photo credit: Tom Molony.)

Preliminary findings
How the media approaches election observation
In our case study countries, the media holds a generally positive sentiment towards election observation, andseldom questions the need for elections to be observed. This is in keeping with a finding documented in our first working
paper, ‘Local Perceptions of Election Observation in Africa – Preliminary Findings’, which shows that ordinary citizens
believe that election observation is important. At the same time, very little information about election observation missions’activities and statements reaches the general public. This suggests that both the missions themselves and the media
could be more active in raising the profile of election observation in the case study countries.
One of the clear findings from our interviews is that the media makes plans to cover elections, not election
observation. The journalists and editors informed us that their media houses will generally (but not always) have a strategy
in place for how they will report on developments during the elections in their countries. However, the coverage of election
observation is not part of these plans, and tends not to be viewed as a priority. Rather, when the media reports onelection observation, it is usually on an ad hoc basis. This coverage is most likely to occur when observation
missions initiate contact with the media or invite them to a briefing. As David Makali, a Kenyan media consultant, puts it:“Unless observer missions approach them, the media houses will just do it haphazardly”.
We also found that the reporters who cover election observation often do not have any expertise on the topic.
Editors only have a small pool of reporters to draw from when covering elections, and few of them have experience ofMedia Representations of Election Observation in Africa — Preliminary Findings (Jan 2023)

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writing about election observation. The best-suited reporters are those who normally specialise in political journalism, butduring elections they are often busy covering the candidates and other political developments. This results in a situation
where editors will assign reporters who normally cover other topics – examples we were provided include sports andentertainment – to cover parts of the election, including election observers. As an academic with extensive experience asan editor in the Zambian media notes, “this compromises the quality of reporting”.
In all case study countries, junior journalists with less experience of elections demonstrate poor understanding ofsome aspects of election observation. These issues were most pronounced in The Gambia, with media personnel in
Zambia and Kenya tending to be slightly better informed. One reason for this is that many Gambian reporters only have a
few years of experience of operating in relative freedom since the Jammeh era. Muhammed S. Bah, President of theGambia Press Union, reflects: “Sometimes journalists leave out some of the key details in their reports or just focus on one
aspect. I think this is due to the inadequate experience and understanding of the importance of observation reports. We
need to build the capacity of journalists to overcome this challenge”. Adam Makasuba, senior editor at The Voicenewspaper in The Gambia, states that ““Most of the reporters are young people… They have the surface information but
not the deep information. The reporters need to be educated on what observers do.”Which election observation-related content the media covers
Across the case study countries, two observation-related topics were more commonly reported on than others. Firstly, there
is often reporting on the deployment of observers that generally provides details about a single named mission. Because
many missions deploy several weeks in advance of election day, there can be less competition for media coverage when
this occurs than there is later in the process. The second common type of story relates to the preliminary statements thatmost missions issue shortly after election day.
The journalists and editors generally suggest that they find preliminary statements to be the most interesting
aspect of election observation. Because there is a perception that the international and regional missions are unlikely togive the media a lot of information before their press conferences, our respondents talk about having to wait for the
preliminary statements to hear what observers are thinking. Sometimes, the relationship between citizen observers andlocal journalists is closer, with some of the journalists and editors suggesting citizen observers are more likely to engage
with the media.
During the preliminary statements, what the media want to know and what the observers wish to share are notalways aligned. Observer statements generally consider various components of the election separately, acknowledge theprocess is still ongoing, and use language that can often be quite diplomatic and technical. What the media want most isan overall verdict on election quality in simple language. For example, Dorothy Ngambi, a news reporter with Namwianga
Radio in Zambia explains that “the gist of our reports focus on whether the observers say the election was free and fair ornot”. The media’s desire to hear simple binary judgements is often apparent in the questions that journalists ask duringobservation missions’ press conferences. In all three country case studies, some of the observation missions were either
asked why they had not given a binary verdict, or for clarification on how their verdict should be expressed in binary terms.
Occasionally, observation missions do not help themselves in this regard, as chief observers can sometimes fall into thelanguage of ‘free and fair’ when they go off script in the press conferences. Journalists and editors are also more interested
in hearing allegations of fraud or malpractice than technical recommendations. As a result, preliminary statements that are
more critical of the electoral process are more likely to get coverage.
Our respondents are quite candid in describing the ways in which complex and nuanced preliminary statements canbe mischaracterised in media coverage. For example, Nelson Manneh, a journalist with Foroyaa newspaper in The
Gambia, explains: “You know, in journalism, when you receive a statement or when you attend a press conference, youalways have a target and your target is ‘what do the public want? What do they want to see?’ You must be able to have astory to market your newspaper and one that is simplified for the average person…. Some journalists make a mistake inchanging the words to something entirely different while trying to simplify. This can change the whole content.”

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When the observation missions release their final reports, these are unlikely to gain as much media attention as thepreliminary statements. Our respondents explain that this is because public interest in the election tends to havedissipated before the final reports are published. For example, Fatima Mawere, a news reporter with UNZA FM in
Zambia, argues that “Once results are announced, the mood changes and public attention shifts elsewhere.” There is alsoa perception among the journalists and editors that the final reports, which tend to be more detailed and technical than the
preliminary statements, are not as interesting. Hyde Haguta, a former ZNBC Director of Programmes in Zambia, explains“In terms of what journalists report about observers, in my experience it is just two or three lines saying the election was free
and fair. Journalists look for lines to sell…. So once elections are over, journalists rarely pay attention to later detailed reportsof observers…. Journalists just want to hear whether the election was free and fair, without going into details.”
During our interviews, we also asked the journalists and editors about situations in which politicians try to politicise election
observation missions. Politicians occasionally attempt to pressure or discredit observation missions before election day,and they will sometimes react to the content of their preliminary statements. The journalists and editors tend to be
cynical about the motivations of the politicians who comment on election observers, assuming that they aresimply trying to advance their own interests. When politicians criticise observers, the respondents often interpreted it as anindication that things were not going well for them. However, although this was quite rare, there are examples of these kindsof comments being reported in the media in our three case study countries. It should be remembered that media houses
are often aligned with, or give favourable coverage to, certain political parties; something that is likely to play a role indetermining what gets coverage and in which outlets. It is also worth noting that observation did not become a particularly
controversial issue during any of our case study elections. These kinds of stories may have become more prominent were
this not the case.

Which observer groups get coverage
Next, we will consider which observation groups are most likely to be the focus of media coverage. When asked if there aresome observer groups that their outlet pays more attention to than others, the journalists and editors give a wide range of
responses. Some of them believe that citizen observers are more credible, while others prefer international observers.
When considering how many times various observation missions were named in media coverage, we find that no single
observer group was particularly prominent in any of our case study countries. Rather, a wide range of observer
missions receive small amounts of coverage. In the Kenyan media, domestic observers have little prominence relative
to their international and regional counterparts, while in Zambia and The Gambia coverage of international, regional, anddomestic missions is more balanced. In the international media’s coverage of these three elections, a range of internationaland regional missions are cited. However, it is rare for media outside the host countries to report on citizen observers.
When looking at coverage of preliminary statements more specifically, some additional dynamics relating to the runningorder of the missions’ press briefings emerge. Most international and regional missions will give their statements on thesame day, two days after election day. There is a protocol that determines the order in which they speak, which gives
priority to the regional observation missions, with international missions reporting later in the day. The early statements
are more likely to be covered by the media than the later ones. This is partly due to reporting deadlines that require
some journalists to submit their stories before the later statements have even been issued. Now that traditional media
houses release stories on their websites and through social media, there is an additional pressure to be first to report onwhat the observers are saying. This also incentivises reporting on the missions that are earliest in the order.
Some of the journalists and editors also suggest that the media is more likely to report on missions with a high-profile chief
observer. For example, Omar Wally, a BBC and Deutsche Welle correspondent in The Gambia, states “We gave more
attention to [former] heads of state and former presidents”. However, these appointments can also create and environment
in the press conferences that is not conducive to media engagement. As Ya Sally Njie, one of our research assistants in The
Gambia, explains, “This is an intimidating setting for the young journalists, with heads of state and ‘are there any burningquestions from the media?’ – which doesn’t encourage questions. At the domestic [briefing] it was lower-ranked personnel
from the missions – they are approachable, and the local observers are not as intimidating to engage.”Media Representations of Election Observation in Africa — Preliminary Findings (Jan 2023)

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Journalists and editors’ ideas for improving coverage of election observation
Towards the end of our interviews with journalists and editors, we asked them if they had any suggestions for improving
media coverage of election observation. In this final section, we present some of their more common suggestions.
As we have mentioned above, election observers that make direct contact with the media are most likely to be covered.
However, many of the media personnel we interviewed complain that missions often either do not do this or make firstcontact just before the elections when the media is exceptionally busy. Several of our respondents think that missions cancreate a better working relationship with the media by engaging early, and that this increases their chances of
media coverage. For example, in Kenya, the European Union mission is cited as a positive example of “well-prepared,
structured and organised” engagement with the media, and is compared favourably to some regional missions that wereunable to engage in a timely fashion. When discussing these less proactive missions, one Kenyan media executive
explains: “They are not covered because they don’t bring themselves to be covered.... They don’t engage the public andthe media with who they are and what they are doing.” In both Zambia and The Gambia, citizen observers are seen to be
more willing to engage with the media. This may reflect the fact that local groups often have pre-existing relationships withthe media, and tend to be more willing to offer pre-election statements.
In a related point, it is obviously important to make sure that journalists are invited to the observation missions’press conferences. Several of the journalists and editors complain that they were not invited to some of the preliminary
statement press conference held by prominent international missions. For example, a few of the journalists we spoke to in
The Gambia inform us that they did not attend the press conference of a prominent international mission because they did
not know when it was occurring. One reporter suggests that mission press officers should always join local media
WhatsApp groups so that they can advertise their events directly to journalists. Ensuring journalists attend the press
conferences is particularly significant because editors state that they are far more likely to take an interest in missions’findings if their staff are present at these events than if they have to look for the statements online.

Image 2: Regional and international observers, diplomats and the media at a press briefing delivered by former President of Ethiopia,
H.E. Mulatu Teshome, head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Election Observation Mission to Kenya, Nairobi,
11 August 2022 (Photo credit: Tom Molony.)

Another common suggestion from journalists is that observation missions should engage with the media using local
languages. Even though all our case study countries can be considered anglophone to some extent, in all three there arelarge proportions of the population who are not conversant in English, the language that observation missions used tocommunicate their findings. There are also many media outlets, particularly radio stations that serve rural areas, that
operate entirely in languages other than English. As a Zambian journalist puts it, “We need more observers to explain to themedia their work and what they do at every stage. Many times they only speak in English, which makes communication
Media Representations of Election Observation in Africa — Preliminary Findings (Jan 2023)5difficult, especially in rural areas”. Some of the journalists in Zambia and The Gambia feel that locally recruited staff who
work for regional or international observation missions could play a useful role in creating this kind of engagement. Some
citizen observer groups already use local languages in some situations. In their press conferences, for example, some of
the Gambian observers fielded questions in local languages.
Many of the journalists and editors suggest that the media would benefit from more knowledge about observationgroups’ activities and objectives. They feel that the best way to achieve this is through direct and early engagement, inwhich observation missions approach the media and set out their role. For instance, Eliud Kibii, Sub-Editor at Kenya’s The
Star newspaper said: “[W]hat are you here to do? Be clear on your objectives. What is your mandate and what are you
expected to do, what should citizens expect?”. If media were to better understand the objectives of election observation
missions, this would have the advantage of addressing the confusion relating to binary verdicts that is detailed above.
However, editors do not necessarily feel that external training sessions are a solution to media capacity issues,
as training offered to the media can often be superficial or fail to reach the correct people. Nzau Musau, Intake Editor at The
Standard (Nairobi) explains: “it’s too rushed. That’s my impression of training related to election observation and training in
general for the elections…. They’re always far away in Diani or Kisumu and I can’t go for three days, so I give them tosomeone, but someone who cannot make a difference - I need my best [journalists] here.” Denis Galava, a former
managing editor at both The Standard and The Nation (Nairobi), adds that “Everybody is looking for journalists to train. For
most it’s a session to cash in. As an editor I’ll send my worst [journalists], so the best can do the work that has to be done….
The training is really crap…. We don’t begrudge the journalists for going – let them harvest at this time”. A former journalist in
The Gambia suggests that editors in his country may have different motivations: “Sometimes those who need it the most
don’t go because the higher-ups want the per diem”.
In the final group of suggestions, respondents encourage observers to step out of their comfort zone. For example,
Musau says observers should consider appearing on live morning talk shows. Other interviewees suggest that missions
should be open to presenting more about the personnel on their missions, to make media stories about observation
relatable. As one Zambian broadcaster notes, “it is rare to interview or profile an observer. I have never read or heard of astory like that in Zambia”.

Image 3: Ivan Štefanec MEP, Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission in Kenya, presents the mission’s final report at apress conference in Nairobi, 27 October 2022 (Photo credit: Stephen Ouma.)Media Representations of Election Observation in Africa — Preliminary Findings (Jan 2023)

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Further Information
The authors can provide a presentation and individual discussion on any of the issues covered in this working paper.
Contact Thomas.Molony@ed.ac.uk.
Readers may also be interested in our first working paper, ‘Local Perceptions of Election Observation in Africa – Preliminary
Findings’ by the same authors, available at https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/lmeo.

Economicand Social
Research Council

THE UNIVERSITY efEDINBURGH

School of Social andPolitical Science

Cover image: Regional and international election observers at a press conference in Nairobi, 11 August 2021. Centre image is former
Prime Minister of Jamaica, H.E. Bruce Golding, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Observer Group mission. Far right is former
President of Sierra Leone, H.E. Ernest Bai Koroma, lead of the AU-COMESA Joint Election Observer Mission to the 2022 Kenya General
Elections (Photo credit: Tom Molony, adapted by Adam Cavill.)

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A working paper by the Local Perceptions and Media Representationsof Election Observation in Africa (LMEO) research project