(Trinidad Express) Government intends to review the defamation laws of this country and bring them in line with international best practice, says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
Persad-Bissessar was speaking at the closing ceremony of the International Press Institute’s (IPI) World Congress 2012, at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, on Tuesday night.
Persad-Bissessar said an IPI-led delegation met with Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and held discussions.
“Following this meeting with the Attorney General, I want to signal our intention to review our defamation laws to bring them in line with international best practice,” said Persad-Bissessar as she received a lofty round of applause from IPI delegates in attendance.
Persad-Bissessar took the opportunity to remind journalists of the huge responsibility they carry, noting a free press was an integral component of democracy which informed the public.
In Trinidad and Tobago, she noted, freedom of the press and of expression were constitutionally guaranteed, regardless of whether it coincided or diverged with the views and priorities of the Government or of State institutions.
Her Government, she said, held firmly to press freedom.
“So having established the enormous power wielded by media, the fact that it monitors, informs and investigates, and the fact that it seeks to uphold the ideal of preserving the public interest, the question arises: who and how will the guards be guarded?” she asked further.
“With great power comes great responsibility. I wish to pause to highlight the awesome power you have and urge integrity and responsibility in the practice of journalism. The unfolding saga of the Rupert Murdoch enquiry shows that the media is not immune to the vice of political vendetta and agenda. Great vigilance and high ethical standards are therefore needed on your part to ensure these rights are not misused and abused for partisan interest,” said Persad-Bissessar.
“With the media’s considerable power, how is the exercise of that power balanced with a measure of accountability to the very public it serves?” she questioned.
Persad-Bissessar stressed the media’s responsibility to rise above partisan interests and to keep a clear line separating “telling the story” and “capitalising on misfortune”, or reporting the news as opposed to sensationally making the news.
“Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated to fulfil the ambition, vendetta or conspiracy of anyone or any organisation. The power of a free press must be held in trust of the people and should always be exercised in the public interest and serve the overriding objective of fairness, justice and truth,” she advised.
She also cautioned journalists on writing stories which had no basis in truth except the rebuttal of the person who was asked for comment.
“If I asked you to comment on a story which, in fact, had no basis of truth and you denied its very existence which I, in turn, as a journalist then carried as your rebuttal, taking it into the public domain, would that be fair and just? Would your denial be the only basis of truth inherent in a story that is otherwise fabricated and that would never have existed had I not written it at all? ” she asked.
