GEORGETOWN, Guyana - On
the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2008, the Guyana Press
Association (GPA) salutes all media workers in Guyana and pays tribute
to those who died while performing their sacred role of presenting the
truth.
Colleagues, we
celebrate another World Press Freedom Day this year at a time when
machinations are afoot to entrench division among the local media corps.
Media managers and
media workers need to take advantage of training opportunities to arrest
declined standards in both the broadcast and print media.
World Press Freedom Day
also is being observed across the globe at a time when Guyana's
political directorate continues to leverage influence in what some of
our colleagues print and broadcast. This situation has undoubtedly
seriously compromised the media in Guyana and has affected our role as
the 'watch dog' of society.
While the GPA
recognizes that we are not all working for the same media entities, it
is our firm belief that we must all abide by the sacred principles of
journalism. Equally, media workers must guard against private interests
that seek to similarly engage in media manipulation to avoid the
publicity of certain issues about themselves or their opponents or
competitors.
Further, this day
should also cause us to do some serious self-examination both as a
fraternity and as individual journalists. Of particular concern to the
GPA is the number of training programmes we have organized during the
past months with less than satisfactory responses especially from the
younger journalists. At the same time, we continue to receive negative
reviews for our work, which points to the need for for training.
Moreover, on this occasion of World Press Freedom Day, it is critical
that the media fraternity in Guyana and the Caribbean Community
understands the importance of its role in shaping societal values and
safeguarding the public's right to know whilst holding fast to the
tenets of the profession. It must be understood that the freedoms -
though often threatened - taken for granted in countries such as ours
are still non-existent in some jurisdictions.
We, therefore, stand
with our colleagues around the world in particular those in the
continent of Africa and in the Middle East who have had to endure
difficult times practicing their craft. On this occasion we also take
the opportunity to urge President Bharrat Jagdeo to relinquish the
position of Information Minister because of the apparent constitutional
complications associated with litigation against the President.
In this context, we
call for a bilateral settlement of the CNS TV 6 issue only for an
independent arbiter to re-examine the dispute into the closure of that
television station and make a decision that is final and binding on both
sides. We, howevver, urge CNS-TV 6 to pursue that aspect of the
litigation dealing with matters against the President all the way to the
Caribbean Court of Justice.
We note that the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo
has listed the closure of CNS-TV 6 and the withdrawal of advertising
among its international concerns. Mr. Ligabo said: "These explicit
censorship measures now exist alongside more subtle tactics that
severely restrict the independence of the press whilst seemingly
allowing States to maintain a façade of respect to democratic principles
such as freedom of expression. In this regard, Governments have exerted
severe economic pressure, including through selective use of State
advertisement, aiming to strangle independent media outlets.
They have also
exploited subjective regulations such as licensing to suspend or shut
down the broadcast or print media. Libel lawsuits have similarly been
used deliberately as a means to imprison critical journalists or to
punish them with disproportionate fines. Examples of these measures
abound.
In Guyana, for
instance, CNS Channel 6 was suspended for four months for "infringing
the terms of its license after an interviewee, speaking during a live
broadcast, called for attacks against the President"
As we celebrate this
day it is the wish of the GPA that the occasion would be used to review
our own work, while at the same time find innovative ways of empowering
this organization so that it can be the vanguard against political and
other interference, which reduce our role from being journalists to mere
Public Relations agents
It is only the
elevation of these and other sacred journalistic values that the media
can play a very meaningful and lasting role in the empowerment of the
masses.
