Joseph Leeham, retired public servant
‘Personally I don’t think that that was a good thing to do. To me it seems like discrimination. There is no justification for withdrawing the ads from Stabroek News. The other two papers are not as popular as the Stabroek News and I believe that they should be given back the ads’.
Peter Gulliver, newspaper vendor
`It is a destructive move to cripple this newspaper. I don’t agree with that decision at all. Stabroek News is a good newspaper. It tells you what is happening and I always enjoy a comfortable read. People also get truthful details and this I believe is why it is getting a lot of support from several international newspapers. I don’t think that the government has given any justifiable reason for this move. They are just making up something to make themselves feel good’.
Clarence Halley, self-employed
‘I am disappointed because you use to see certain ads when you read the Stabroek News and now you can’t. I agree with all the international newspapers when they saw that this move goes against press freedom. Government had no justification for withdrawing the ads from this daily newspaper. I feel that they want to get rid of this newspaper.’
Keith Lewis, public sector employee
`It was not justifiable because this is a democratic society where freedom of speech is the order of the day. They are claiming that there is press freedom and yet they are doing this. If there is a financial problem like the government is claiming then all the ads from the Kaieteur News should be withdrawn as well so that some of the taxpayers’ money could be saved’.
Agnes Johnson, retired nurse
`I don’t think it was justifiable. I think Stabroek News is just like any other newspaper and as such the ads should not have been withdrawn. In the next few days and weeks people will continue to voice their disapproval’.
Bibi Khan, housewife
`It was not right. I believe that this withdrawal shows a breach of press freedom. This move was wrong and that’s why I believe that international newspapers are speaking up about it. Withdrawing ads from Stabroek News was totally wrong’.
Nneka Watson, UG student
`It was a very unprofessional move. I came to this conclusion because of the government’s attitude. I believe this all has to do with the Stabroek News as a company that is not supporting their views. I believe that they are thinking that the newspaper is not for them and as such they want to cripple it. No proper justification was given. If this withdrawal was done before maybe persons could have believed it. If the government has all this money to prepare for Cricket World Cup, then what is it to put a few ads in the Stabroek News? There is just no justification for this move’.
John Fowler, Porter
`The government made a wrong move to withdraw ads from the Stabroek News. There is no proper justification for doing so. Stabroek News sells a lot so the ads will be marketed. This was a wrong move to withdraw the ads’.
Raphael Gonsalves, sign artist.
`That was unjustifiable and a breach of press freedom. I have not heard any proper explanation as to why the ads were withdrawn from the Stabroek News but I believe that was wrong’.
Thandeka Watson, UG student
`That was a very petty and unprofessional approach. The excuses for withdrawing the ads from the newspaper are very petty and they have no base for justification. The withdrawal also reflects how unprofessional the government is. The Stabroek newspaper sells. It is not true that it doesn’t circulate enough. In my opinion the international newspapers that are raising concerns believes that that this was a breach of press freedom’.
