Organizational Context 

The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) and NEBE are engaged in a long-term cooperation programme funded by the EU and German Cooperation (Deutsche Zusammenarbeit). Through these means, ECES provides direct financial and technical support to NEBE on multiple levels, including media and communication.

NEBE and ECES will establish a media monitoring unit within NEBE, to be staffed by a Unit Supervisor and five additional Media Monitors The monitors will receive training provided by ECES experts in collaboration with NEBE. The media monitoring team will cover all regions of Ethiopia. Media-monitoring experts will establish and strengthen NEBE’s media monitoring methodology regards to the different types of media (radio, television, print/online). Competitive remuneration will be offered to qualified candidates.

The objective of the unit:

• Support NEBE’s internal and external communication as well as its visibility, to improve its functioning and outreach activities through monitoring the media coverage of NEBE
• Collate media reports on weekly/monthly basis, based on qualitative and quantitative analyses of reporting from selected media outlets. The monitoring will help enrich NEBE’s communication strategies and respond in real time
• Measure the impact of the voter education campaign on media and inform NEBE of findings in a timely manner
• Monitor the media in all the phases of the electoral process: voter registration, candidate registration, electoral campaign, the respect of the silence period, election day, announcement of the results at all level, and the complaints process for all the stages
• Monitor and inform NEBE on possible electoral violence through the electoral process

The data generated via the media monitoring team may also be used to support media organisations for responsible elections reporting.

NEBE

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, NEBE, is a constitutional election management body mandated to conduct elections and regulate political parties. NEBE was re-established by proclamation 1133/2019 and it also has a full mandate on elections, political parties, code of conduct of different stakeholders and electoral observation. NEBE is currently introducing organizational and operational changes and reforms since its reestablishment.

European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES)

The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) is a non-profit private foundation with its headquarters in Brussels. ECES promotes sustainable democratic development through the provision of advisory services and operational support benefitting all electoral stakeholders, including electoral management bodies, civil society organizations dealing with civic & voter education and election observation, political parties and parliaments dealing with electoral reforms, media, security forces and legal institutions dealing with electoral dispute resolutions.

The project European Response on Electoral Cycle Support (EURECS)

The EU in Ethiopia is funding a long-term support strategy within the framework of democratic development and support to good governance. The project is titled ‘European Response to Electoral Cycle Support (EURECS). This project is fully funded by the EU through the European Development Fund (EDF) and German Cooperation (Deutsche Zusammenarbeit).

The EURECS project seeks to strengthen the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) in order to raise the profile of an independent, credible and effective institution that will deliver inclusive and democratic electoral processes in Ethiopia. EURECS seeks to contribute to enhance the transparency, credibility and public confidence in NEBE, as well as in the electoral process recognizing the high expectations on the 2020 elections as the starting point for a paradigm shift in the conduct of elections in the country.

Functions/Key Results Expected from the media monitors 

Under the coordination of the ECES representative (for the logistic, financial and methodological part) and under the supervision of NEBE, the Media Monitors will have the following responsibilities:

• Monitor, quantitatively and/or qualitatively, and analyse on a daily basis, the different national/regional media allocated (television, radio, print, online), according to the methodology developed during the internal media monitoring training
• Draft related summaries and reports, in Amharic or English as decided by NEBE.
• Ensure, within established deadlines, the entry of media monitoring data and information in the proposed software
• Promptly report to the MMU Supervisor on any major information related to the media monitored and the journalists, the news broadcast/published by the media monitored, and the electoral/political actors affected by this information
• Participate in methodology review sessions
• Respect the Code of good conduct attached to the analysis methodology, which requires impartiality and commitment
• Conduct translation of different communications material, in addition to monitoring, in the given language
• Perform any other duty necessary to the fulfillment of media monitoring objectives.

Supervision:

• National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) Communications head

Coordination:

•  (methodology, finance, logistic): ECES

Duration:

• 12 months initially

Education and experience

Education:

• University degree or advanced training in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, Communication Sciences, Journalism or equivalent.  Previous training on media monitoring or related to media are an asset

Experience:

• At least 3 years of experience in media (monitoring, reporting, broadcasting). Proofs of experience is required (contracts, recommendation etc).

Skills

• Excellent written and oral expression skills, In Amharic and English
• Excellent reporting capacity, in English and Amharic, with sound analytical and synthesis skills
• Excellent command of at least one of the required local languages (Somali, Oromo, Tigrinya, Afar and Amharic). Other local languages will be an asset.
• Strong interest in: media, elections, and politics
• Ability to work under the constraints of deadlines
• Ability to meet established tasks
• Capacity to work in a team, with international and national staff
• Open minded and willing to be adaptable and flexible in dealing with colleagues
• Ability to learn, update skills as needed, and share them with the media monitoring team
• Neutrality and rigor in the progress of tasks
• Good knowledge of the Ethiopian media and political landscape
• Good computer skills (MS-Office: Windows, Word, Excel) and ability to use new media monitoring database systems
• Good knowledge of social media.
•  Good knowledge of translation of materials and broadcasted programs into Amharic and/or English