Political party players have over the years been instrumental in how voter turn out during elections come to play. However, in many instances, those campaigns turn out violent which leads to loss of lives and properties. Indeed, these parties try their best to salvage the situation however, how the media distributes its messages can be a factor in the turn of events.

ECOWAS Assistance

With reference to the ECOWAS 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, and following the deteriorating state of democracy in the subregion, it is expedient on the media to carry the message of peace before, during, and after elections. The Protocol also calls on election monitoring and ECOWAS assistance in these processes.

Election violence

Although political parties may preach peace during their campaigns, that is not enough. This is because, there is a lot of violent attacks and hate speech which ensue between party fanatics which sometimes, if not checked, escalates into violence. Electoral violence before, during and after elections can be divided into physical, psychological, and structural electoral violence.

Transparency and integrity

Additionally, lack of transparency and accountability among party faithfuls leads to rise in tensions among those parties who may feel cheated out. Here, the media can play the role of watchdogs who verify sources of funding and political messaging which is communicated to the public. There is the need for a blueprint in showing integrity in declaring sources of income for political campaigns.

Media literacy

Overall, the media can collaborate with stakeholders and CSOs for factchecking purposes. They can achieve this through sensitization of the public through civic education and digital literacy in order to identify fake news which seek to tarnish the image of political actors by their opposition parties.