Dear Editor,
Everyone knows how challenging it gets at times for the Guyanese media to fulfill their mandate to disseminate information to the general public. While many of them have it good, others bend to the pressure and tremble in the presence of whom they are afraid. But many media houses in Guyana work under severe pressure and constraints on a daily basis. However, they still continue to make Guyanese like myself proud.
I am very pleased, that over the last weekend, the Berbice media performed extraordinarily—-given the resources—in the coverage of the accident that took place on the #19 Road on the Corentyne. Special reference must be made to the newscasts here, especially Newswatch. Continuous updates were aired throughout the weekend by the latter. I must implore our media to keep the public up-to-date with news and developments that take place during weekends. If it is a major news story that cannot wait until the Monday news, then people must here, see or read about it before that time. The news cycle does not rest; it is always moving.
This brings me to the job that Stabroek News has been doing. At the same time, I will offer my support to the newspaper in its recent decision to start charging a fee for access to the web-related content of its newspaper from December 1 of this year. It really has not been an easy ride for this respected journalistic publication, of which I see myself a small part of.
Stabroek News has been penalized and victimized by those in the power spaces so much that the paper finds it mandatory to implement measures that would ensure its survival and continued service to the reading public. TV programme guides are no longer available in this newspaper because, I presume, it is not cost- effective anymore to print, since those listings were published for free. And State advertisements are no longer published in the papers since all have been placed on the government procurement website.
Kaieteur News has been publishing a few State ads for free on a daily basis for a few weeks now. This, I am sure, is costing that paper hundreds of thousands of dollars. I wonder how long it would go on for. Even though Kaieteur News has made that offer to the government, there has been no attempt to revert to the former arrangement, to close the procurement website down and re- advertise with the newspapers. It won’t happen.
Stabroek News does a great service to readers, especially for those overseas who peruse the website on a daily basis. Stabroek News constantly updates the news with fresh news that appears as it happens in a special corner of their website. It takes money to do all of this and maintain a website that is so jam-packed with information, that I think it is only fair that the paper entertains financial contributions from its online readers for continued access as from next month. Eight U.S. dollars per month for access to such a wealth of news and information is more than affordable. I am with you all the way, Stabroek News. And I am sure the sentiments of many right- minded Guyanese are similar indeed.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Suseran
