AKEL denounces non-objective biased stance in RIK news reports

 

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 31st March 2020, Nicosia

It is with regret that we are forced to address the Board of Directors and management of the public Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (RIK) to raise – and not for the first time – issues relating to the Corporation’s objective coverage in its news programmes.

We all understand that the times our country is going through demand a wider understanding and that the government has objectively the primary responsibility for dealing with the pandemic. This does not mean, however, that the government and its officials must have a monopoly on media coverage by excluding or restricting the projection of the parties of the opposition parties positions, in particular that of the biggest opposition party, AKEL.

Nor, of course, does the emergency situation mean that RIK has any justification to take up its time in order to make the communication profile of the President and his government in news reports more attractive. It is rightly said that now is not the time “for opposition”, but it is also isn’t the time for a section of the mass media to engage in pro-government propaganda. Unfortunately, this is the picture that RIK has been broadcasting lately.

AKEL is of the view that the public broadcasting station, which operates with the taxpayers’ money, has the greatest responsibility towards the people to provide authoritative and objective news, to give a proportionate podium and voice to all political forces to outline their positions. The need for objective information hasn’t been suspended because of the pandemic. On the contrary, as has been shown in recent weeks, serious and well-documented positions submitted by the political forces can make a positive contribution.