Dear Editor,

I thank Dr Prem Misir for clarifying the reason why Capitol News reporter Gordon Moseley was banned or suspended from covering events at the Office of the President and State House in a letter captioned ‘Freedom of the press is not absolute’ (SN July 19). Misir penned that Moseley wrote “reproachful and disrespectful comments” about President Jagdeo in a letter published in SN and KN.  During the course of interviewing people over the last week for a poll I am conducting, several people justified GINA’s suspension of Moseley, claiming that he habitually made disparaging and denigrating remarks about the President. While I agree that reporters should not denigrate or attack legitimately elected leaders (especially with untruths) such as Mr Jagdeo, one must distinguish between attacks on and critiques of a leader. I do not know if Mr Moseley routinely attacks the President as prominent lawyers and doctors have informed me.

But even if he attacked the President and even if his reporting of the President’s meeting in Antigua was inaccurate, or even if he disrespected the President in his recent letter, the punishment must fit the ‘crime.’  In the US, readers and judges feel a bad or inaccurate press is better than no press. Bad reporters are punished but banning them from news events is rarely invoked.

While reporters enjoy broad freedom to report the news, reporters have a moral duty to accurately and objectively report on newsworthy events.  I remember Bro Eusi Kwayana mentioning to me some time during the late 1980s about reporters at times incorrectly reporting on his statements and views on political issues. Reporters must strive for accuracy, regardless of whether they like the newsmaker. They should not let their own feelings and views interfere with news reporting. News is news, not one’s personal views, which must be separate from reporting. Credible reporters hardly ever attack leaders personally; they may pen op-ed commentaries.  In turn, leaders or their functionaries should not punish reporters for their op-ed comments.

I am not a scholar of the American media but I have studied Supreme Court cases relating to the American media and have served as a reporter for ethnic newspapers in NY for almost 30 years.  I do not know of any reporter being banned from press briefings or events, although such discretion can be exercised by a leader. Reporters should be free to carry out their business without unnecessary restrictions.

I urge Dr Misir who himself was a ‘press man’ for a few years as publisher and editor of the weekly Carib-bean Journal newspaper before returning to Guyana to work for the President, to use any influence he has to urge the President to revoke the ban on Mr Moseley. Main-taining the ban gives the government an unfavourable image. The Trinidad News-day, for example, severely critiqued President Jagdeo on press freedom in its Sunday edition.

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram