The Role Of Media In Creating A PeacefulElectoral Process:

Recently the task of the media in conducting elections has been an issue of great concern globally.Its impact has increased immensely and investigators are obliged to agree on the degree and magnitude of the media influence in creating a peaceful election.The aim of this study was to evaluate the responsibility of media in creating a peaceful election,with reference to the 2018 Pre and Post-Election Violence in Sierra Leone.The specific objectives were to establish the media accessibility level and the various modes of media coverage;to establish the extent to which media advocated for peace or violence during the 2018 general elections in Sierra Leone.Several theories of media reporting were analyzed to explain media roles and to develop the conceptual framework.The research adopted both qualitative and quantitative research methodology where a descriptive research design and random stratified sampling method with a sample size of 388 respondents was used.Primary data was obtained via questionnaires and in-depth interviews analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science(SPSS)software version 20.0 and presented in various forms namely;tables,charts and graphs accompanied with a brief description thereafter.The study found out that media performed both conflict escalation and peaceful tasks during the 2018 general elections.Some of the negative media roles include encouraging hate speech,running parallel tallying centers,misrepresentation of information,and incitement.Some positive roles include conducting civic education,preaching peace,fair coverage of political rallies,and fair reporting of contentious matters during peace negotiations.The study recommends stringent measures for negative journalism while highlighting the merits of peace journalism.A few of the stern procedures recommended by the study comprise of the adoption of a common approach in conflict coverage,the designing and enforcement of stringent regulations towards the control of local radio stations,training of journalists on conflict reporting,the development of a standard conflict reporting procedure,media to be encouraged to report accurate and verified official electoral body results,and conflict reports to cut across all listeners without targeting particular groups.