Letter from the General Secretary of AKEL to the Chairman of the Board of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation RIK
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 17th July 2020, Nicosia
The General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL, Andros Kyprianou sent a letter to the Chairman of the Board of RIK Mr. Andreas Frangos on the formulation of a Code of Ethics by the CBC.
The main part of the letter is quoted:
“Unfortunately, we are forced to return to the issue of Ethics followed by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation with regards news journalism, the ranking and coverage of news on a daily basis.
As an Institution that operates with public money, with the money of taxpayers, and whose mission is to provide comprehensive information, RIK has an obligation to project all political positions in a balanced way, so that citizens themselves can judge them. Unfortunately this is not the case and the systematic phenomena of biased presentation of news and political statements force us to return to the subject.
Following various discussions we had as AKEL with the leadership of RIK, we had previously agreed that a Code of Ethics would be drafted that would be followed in relation to the prioritization of news and statements for transmission, as well as the evaluation that the Corporation itself will make in relation to the result of its work about its objectivity and equal representation of political forces.
We had agreed that this code will be discussed with the political parties as well. Adherence to such a code with reverence would reduce any problems with the coverage of news.
Please let me know where the whole issue is.
I clarify that the only thing we are interested in is for the Public Radio and Television to play its role objectively, regardless of who is in power.
Thank you”.