SOJ media policies

​​​Request ​780320857

Please provide any guidance, rules, or policies held by the States of Jersey or the Elections Office regarding media commentary or opinion columns written by individuals in the Jersey Evening Post, who are widely rumoured or expected to stand as candidates in the forthcoming elections, particularly where such commentary is critical of the Jersey Government or its members. In addition, I request any information or consideration held relating to how such media exposure is assessed in terms of electoral fairness and equal opportunity for other prospective candidates who do not have access to regular media platforms in the run-up to elections. 

Thank you

Response

In this response, ‘Elections Office’ has been taken to mean the Jersey Electoral Authority, including the States Greffe that provides administrative support to it.

Neither the States of Jersey nor the ‘Elections Office’ issue guidance, rules or policies to potential election candidates regarding media commentary or opinion pieces in the Jersey Evening Post, therefore the information requested is not held for the purposes of Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

This response has been issued on behalf of the States Greffe. The States Greffe is responsible for the information held by (and on behalf of) both itself and the States Assembly. Neither the States Assembly nor the States Greffe form part of the Government of Jersey and the Government was not involved either in the examination and retrieval of any information required for this response, nor in the drafting of the response itself​.​