Guidelines for Producing and Broadcasting News on Elections and Referendums

Novamber 21, 2024

No. 1130000664

I.        Purpose

This guideline establishes this station’s rules for interviewing, reporting, editing, and producing news and programs related to elections and referendums. It ensures that the content remains fair and balanced, accurate and transparent, in-depth and diverse.

The guidelines herein also include rules for the posting of information on social media platforms and for the production and broadcast of programs relating to the counting of ballots.

The regulations outlined in this guideline are based on, but not limited to, the following laws:

●           “Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China” 《中華民國憲法增修條文》

●           “Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act” 《總統副總統選舉罷免法》

●           “Public Officials Election And Recall Act” 《公職人員選舉罷免法》

●           “Referendum Act” 《公民投票法》

●           “Radio and Television Act”  《廣播電視法》

II.       Scope

(1)    Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall

(2)    Election and Recall of Public Officials, including the following positions:

1.       Public Officials of the Central Government: Legislators of the Legislative Yuan

2.       Local Public Officials: special municipality councilors, county (city) councilors, and township (town, city) council representatives, representatives of mountain indigenous districts of special municipalities (hereafter referred to as mountain indigenous districts), mayors of special municipalities, mayors and magistrates of counties (cities), mayors of townships (cities), chiefs of indigenous districts and chiefs of villages (boroughs)

(3)    Referendums:

1.       Constitutional Amendment Referendums

2.       National Referendums: Applies to matters stipulated other than as provided for in the Constitution, including laws on referendums, creation of legislative principles, and creation or review of major national policies.

3.       Local Referendums: Applies to: Review of local self-governing ordinances, creation of legislative principles of local self-governing ordinances, creation or review of major policies concerning local self-governance.

III.     Fundamental Principles

When producing and broadcasting news or programs related to elections and referendums, the following principles must be observed:

(1)    Fairness and Balance

1.       News reporting and program production must remain fair, objective, and balanced, presenting perspectives from all sides without favoritism or support for specific candidates, political parties, groups, or a particular stance.

2.       The production of related news programs must remain neutral and independent, free from political pressure or influence from interest groups.

3.       For content that is controversial, polarizing, or highly sensitive, discussions with supervisors should precede production to ensure the presentation of diverse and comprehensive opinions, balancing opposing or conflicting viewpoints.

4.       White papers on policies, political opinions or referendum proposals by political parties, candidates, or referendum proponents should be appropriately reported and analyzed. Responses or counterarguments from opposing parties, candidates, or referendum opponents should also be reported.

5.       Coverage of campaign platforms, debates, campaign events, or referendum proposal presentations and debates must ensure that the views of major political parties or all relevant representatives are reported in an appropriately proportioned manner.

6.       Journalists, editors, program producers, hosts, and anchors responsible for election or referendum news should avoid having their personal bias or preferences affect the impartiality of presenting news or programs.

7.       During election or referendum periods, supervisors should be informed in advance of plans to conduct exclusive interviews with political party leaders, candidates, representatives of related groups, or opinion leaders. Even if the content does not pertain to election or referendum issues, prior notification is still required. Care must be taken to prevent any program content from favoring specific parties, candidates, or groups, or causing unfair disadvantages to opposing sides.

(2)    Accuracy and Transparency

1.       Verification and fact-checking must be done when conducting news reporting on elections or referendums to ensure the accuracy of all information and data cited or obtained, avoiding the dissemination of false or incorrect information.

2.       Relevant documents, data, images, and other materials must be verified as authentic to ensure they are not exaggerated, false, or misleading. Avoid reliance on a single source of information, and seek expert opinions when necessary.

3.       Allegations, accusations, insinuations, criticisms or negative information arising from election or referendum issues must be handled with caution, thoroughly verified, and include statements from the parties involved.

4.       Posts, images, videos, and other content from social media platforms (including but not limited to Facebook and X) should not be used out of context, and must not be quoted, reproduced, or used unless these have been verified, authorized, or unless their sources have been confirmed to be reliable.

5.       Efforts should be made to be transparent regarding the news gathering and reporting process, including information sources and contextual details or background information that journalists know when conducting interviews. If a source requests anonymity, assessments of the actual situation must be made, and internal reporting procedures should be followed beforehand.

6.       Records should be kept during interviews, and relevant materials should be retained for subsequent verification.

(3)    Depth and Diversity

1.       When reporting on campaign platforms or referendum issues, the background and reasons for their cause/s should be researched to provide an explanation and analysis for the audience. On difficult, complex, or technical issues, opinions from experts should be sought to help the audience understand a position’s significance and impact.

2.       When citing analyses or commentary from scholars, experts, think tanks, or research institutions, their background, stance, and the context of their comments should be taken into consideration to avoid conflict of interest or potential biases.

3.       Election or referendum issues should be reported from different angles and perspectives to help the audience grasp the complexities and implications. This would include historical context, international case studies, policy analysis, and others.

4.       For issues related to elections or referendums, in addition to presenting the views of political parties, candidates, proponents, and stakeholders, opinions from relevant civil organizations and the public should also be included. The principles of diversity and inclusiveness should be upheld to foster a range of viewpoints and public discussion, while also providing a platform for minority or marginalized groups in society to voice their perspectives.

IV.    Social Media

(1)    When publishing content on the station's official social media platforms, posts represent the organization. As such, any content related to elections or referendums must comply with Radio Taiwan International's News Production and Broadcasting Code and the Management Guidelines for Online News and New Media Production.

(2)    When publishing (by posting or other methods), sharing, or reposting election or referendum news on the station's social media platforms, content should adhere to the original news or program content. Overly provocative or inappropriate language, as well as excessive extrapolation, interpretation, or insinuation about specific candidates, political parties, or groups, should be avoided.

(3)    Editors should calmly handle offensive comments from netizens on social media platforms. In cases of vulgar provocation, threats, or illegal and inappropriate content, editors should immediately notify their supervisor and seek guidance. Upon approval, comments may be deleted or the user's account may be blocked.

(4)    Station employees, including but not limited to journalists, editors, program hosts, and those involved in election or referendum news production, should refrain from prominently displaying personal political preferences, voting intentions, or support for specific views on personal social media platforms where their connection to the station is identifiable. This includes posting any content that undermines the station's neutrality, professionalism, or credibility.

(5)    Aforementioned employees identifiable as affiliated with the station on personal social media platforms should avoid expressing personal opinions on overly controversial or divisive topics. To uphold the station's fairness and neutrality, relevant evidence or professional analysis for their statements should be provided when commenting on public issues rather than speaking solely from a specific stance.

V.      Public Opinion Polls

(1)    Election and referendum news must handle public opinion poll results with care.  Relevant information such as the polling organization, the principal investigator, the survey period, sampling methods, population size, sample size, margin of error, and sources of funding, among other details, should be disclosed.

(2)    Careful consideration must be given to the credibility of polls, particularly when the data originates from organizations with clear political affiliations, such as political parties or specific groups. Polling results should be evaluated for potential bias and assessed for their suitability for reporting. Selective citation of poll results to favor specific candidates, individuals, or groups must be avoided.

(3)    When reporting election and referendum polls, the correlation between the poll results and the questionnaire design, the survey date, and the survey methodology must be carefully examined as all these factors can affect poll results. The interpretation of poll data must not be based solely on the polling organization's conclusions.

(4)    When reporting poll-related news, it is important to recognize that opinion polls can also serve as part of an election or referendum publicity campaign, and there may be bias in the polling results. If only the most popular or dramatic polls are reported, this may mislead the audience, which is why careful evaluation is needed.

(5)    According to Article 52 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act and Article 53 of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, it is prohibited to publish, report, disseminate, comment on, or cite any public opinion poll data related to candidates, recall subjects, or elections during the ten days prior to the voting day and until the voting period ends.

VI.    Use of Campaign Materials

(1)    When reporting election and referendum news, campaign advertisements or videos from political parties, candidates, or referendum groups must not be directly uploaded or embedded on the station’s official website or social media platforms. It must first be appropriately handled based on journalistic professionalism and presented in the form of a news report.

(2)    When selecting images for election news, campaign posters, advertisements, or promotional videos provided by political parties or candidates must not be used directly. Images should be re-taken or appropriately processed to avoid any appearance of advertising or promoting specific candidates

(3)    News websites and social media platforms must not hyperlink to the websites of political parties or candidates.

VII.   Things to take note of on voting day

When reporting on election or referendum voting (ballot box opening) day:

(1)    According to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act and the Public Officials Election and Recall Act, political parties and individuals are prohibited from engaging in campaigns or campaign rallies on voting day. Therefore, no reports on campaigns or campaign rallies may be broadcast from the start of voting until voting ends. Reports are limited to voting updates across different locations, voting activities of key figures, information from the Central Election Commission (CEC), things to keep in mind of when voting, weather updates, and the like.

(2)    News about political parties, candidates, and referendum issues must be handled fairly, adhering strictly to the principles of truthfulness and accuracy. All information must be thoroughly verified before broadcast to ensure timeliness and correctness.

(3)    After voting ends, if there is a need to cite exit poll data, the polling organization, its background, and the reliability and validity of the polling methodology must be carefully considered, with experts providing professional interpretation of the data.

(4)    During live broadcasts reporting vote counts for candidates or referendums, data must primarily come from the Central Election Commission (CEC) or local election commissions. If alternative sources are used, such as party counts, candidate counts, or media counts, their accuracy and credibility must be assessed, and the source must be clearly stated. If vote count data appears unreasonable or significantly diverges from the CEC or local election commission data, it must not be used. The audience should be constantly reminded that “final vote counts and results are determined by the Central Election Commission or the [Local] Election Commission.”

(5)    During vote counting, the outcomes are continuously changing. In the event that any candidate declares victory based on preliminary results, but the opponent has not yet conceded—especially when the vote difference falls within the margin of error—no candidate must be declared or reported as the winner. Results are only reported when there is a clear outcome. The same principle applies to referendum results.

(6)    When reporting on the results of the vote count, one must adhere to professional journalism standards, presenting objective and rational analysis from multiple perspectives.