The Guyana Press Association (GPA) yesterday called on President David Granger to convene press conferences and it also bemoaned what it said was the Government’s increasingly rigid posture against sections of the media and the GPA by refusing to concretely address several concerns.
The GPA in a statement said it joins journalists and media practitioners across the world in observing World Press Freedom 2017, today, under the theme of “Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies”.
In its release, the GPA said that it has sought an audience with Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo on various issues but to no avail, but on the other hand it was grateful to have had at least three meetings with President David Granger, apart from the two events which he has held with the media since assuming office.
The GPA statement added that that it continues to receive complaints of government/political interference in the work of taxpayers’ funded State-owned media. The GPA stated that it continues to condemn the moves by some government ministers to steer the editorial content of the state media, and the continued presence of Imran Khan, the Director of Public information, as the chairman of the Board of the Chronicle newspapers, which sends a message of direct state control and runs counter to public statements by the President that his executive will not undermine the professionalism of the state media.
The GPA also noted that it had received complaints that two of its members had been accosted by presidential affairs personnel and pulled away although President Granger had shown willingness to speak. These actions taken together, the GPA statement observed, clearly send a damning message to the regional and international media community that Guyana and Guyanese media workers need to take decisive action to arrest what could very well be the continuation of media repression by successive political directorates under the guise of repeated public declarations in support of press freedom.
The GPA called on the Government of Guyana to desist from carrying out certain actions that are inimical to press freedom and instead to subscribe to its promise of breaking with the past.
The Guyana Government needs to play a significant role in helping to shape the press freedom environment especially in an era of digital delivery of information on which people are increasingly dependent on, like conventional mass media, to make a wide array of decisions that affect their lives, the GPA stated.
In this regard, the GPA called on President Granger to hold periodic press conferences of no less than one hour. In acknowledging the fact that he not averse to speaking with the media on the sidelines of public events or during his ‘Public Interest’ programme, the GPA believes that accountability to the Guyanese people will be best served through press conferences at which he can be questioned in detail about his government’s policies and programmes.
The Association further calls on the President to advise the media in advance of his overseas engagements to allow media houses the opportunity to or decide whether they would like to cover those visits at their own expense.
The local press association also takes the firm view that a strong judiciary is an important pillar in the protection and promotion of free media as part of the promotion of a healthy democracy in which ordinary people and decision-makers alike can share competing ideas, constructive criticisms and suggestions for nation-building.
The GPA further added that the rule of law forms an integral part of a democratic and inclusive society, as it protects fundamental freedoms as it applies universally to each individual and entity. Weak institutions, a weak judiciary, and lack of access to justice greatly impede sustainable development, and without a well-functioning legal and regulatory environment, the public will lose confidence in the democratic process and will no longer invest in its sustainable future.
