Members of the local media fraternity were on Friday night cautioned against serving partisan interests, which they were told could undermine both their profession and democracy.
This message was delivered by speakers during a reception hosted by the British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn at his residence to mark World Press Freedom Day, which was observed this year under the theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation.”
In his address to the gathering, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo noted that misinformation and fake news are the “enemies of democracy” as they sow division and undermine the will of the people. Nagamootoo and Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan were the only government members present at the event.
“Because of the overwhelming influence of media now turn lobbies and public relation firms with all types of connections and associations, these help to distort society in a way that the founders of democracy had not envisaged. The free, open, popular will of people as we know it should always triumph and not those who enter into your mind… and control your will,” he told those gathered at Quinn’s Bel Air Gardens home.
These controllers, he said, are the new challenge for the free press. “This is the challenge for journalists to be able to stand up for a profession that is noble as truth itself,” he added.
Earlier in his remarks he called for the protection of journalists from abuse that comes with the “politicisation of the media…that comes with wanting journalists to do the biddings of those with agendas that are bigger than the agendas to simple convey and tell the truth.”
Meanwhile, Vice President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) Zoisa Fraser, reading a message from the organisation’s executive to mark the occasion, pointed out that the reality in Guyana is that many media houses are politically aligned, which results in “a deliberate blurring of the lines of freedom of expression to achieve self-serving political outcomes for their preferred political parties” and “in disinformation and the cultivation of a culture of bias among journalists.” This, she stressed, will destroy the essence of the ethical standards and principles that journalists are expected to abide by in the delivery of news and information.
“The executive of the Guyana Press Association unreservedly condemns those media houses and practitioners who maliciously pursue narrow political agenda in the furtherance of their political handlers,” she said.
Fraser noted that the GPA is also urging media houses to consider crafting social media policies to guide their editorial staff. This, she explained, should be seen as a safeguard against them taking “private” positions, especially on political issues that may be construed as the official position of their organisations. In certain situations, she added, such personal positions can ultimately endanger the safety of reporters in the field during elections coverage.
Fraser also called on colleagues to research, fact-check and ensure there is balance and fairness through a wide variety of perspectives in their content and cautioned them to always be mindful of hidden political agenda of even the most trusted sources.
“At the same time, the Guyana Press Association calls on primarily politicians to cease attacking media houses when factual stories are written that they do not like. Recent unapologetic and brazen attacks on the media by senior government and opposition politicians do not serve to create a conducive environment for Guyanese to consume journalistic material to allow them to elect representatives of their choice at periodic elections. On the contrary, such attacks, as history has shown right here in Guyana, resulted in physical attacks by supporters of political parties,” she pointed out.
Fraser also cited the need for human and technical resources to be allocated to utilise existing social media tools and develop new ones to deliver accurate and timely information, especially for political and electoral reporting.
