CIHRS, an independent, non-partisan Egyptian NGO dedicated to human rights education and research, has been conducting its 2005 Presidential and Parliamentary Election Media Monitoring Project to systematically monitor the media coverage of the presidential and parliamentary elections. This project is conducted with the material and technical support of the International Media Support (IMS), an international organization headquartered in Copenhagen, promoting media development worldwide. In the framework of this support, two MEMO 98` representatives, Ivan Godarsky and Rasto Kuzel, conducted trainings and consultancy to help CIHRS in conducting its media and elections focused project and to analyze the broadcast and print media.

CIHRS seeks to evaluate the mass media's performance in providing objective and balanced coverage of the candidates and their platforms so the citizens of Egypt can make well-informed choices at the ballot box. The project's findings will be determined through a well-defined and rigorous methodology and are not intended to support any one candidate or political party, but the integrity of the media environment as a whole during the campaign season.

Media monitoring for the 7 September Presidential Election was carried out from 11 August through 5 September using qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. Quantitative analysis will measure the total amount of time and space devoted to elections-related coverage on four state-funded TV channels, two private TV stations, and seventeen newspapers. The qualitative analysis will evaluate whether the information about candidates is positive, negative, or neutral in its content.

Over the course of one month and with the help of approximately 20 monitors and analysts, CIHRS held two press conferences and release the results of the monitoring of six television stations, and seventeen newspapers to the general public, the media, political parties, governmental bodies, international organizations, embassies, non-governmental organizations, and others (see more on www.cihrs.org).