At least one member of the board of the state-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper is not ready to co-sign a decision that Editor-in-Chief (EIC) Nigel Williams has the authority to fire columnists David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis.
Ruel Johnson who sits on the Editorial Sub-Committee of the board told Stabroek News on Friday that under his list of duties and powers, Williams can only fire contracted workers including freelancers with due cause none of which was presented in the case of either columnist.
“The EIC does not have the power to unilaterally change the direction of the paper and content in general. This has implications for target audience and marketing and by virtue of this requires not only engagement of other sections of the entity, advertising and marketing in particular but guidance in this regard by the Board”, he explained.
