Dear Editor,
Peeping Tom in his column titled “Integrity and Solidarity are not hollow words” dated 01/24/07 took issue with me saying that the writer lacks journalistic integrity and solidarity. This writer wants to change the subject and clearly wishes to make the issue of the Guyana Information Agency (GINA) withdrawal of ministries advertisement from Stabroek News about the competition between Stabroek News and Kaieteur News, when it is indeed about the importance of the advancement of democracy in Guyana. This attitude is lacking in journalistic integrity. The writer using the pen name Peeping Tom clearly shows that he or she has no interest as a journalist in protecting the democratic gains that Guyanese have won since 1992. This deliberate attempt to change the subject lacks journalistic solidarity.
A keen observer of Guyana’s politics would know that the government’s decision to withdraw the ministries advertisements is not based on economic or market considerations. There are many factors that are involved in making marketing decisions, when entities are deciding where to place an advertisement. These factors include the readership number of a particular newspaper, the income level of a particular demographic the paper reaches, the educational level of that demographic, the consumption type, age group, the content of the paper etc. Different ads are intended for different target audiences. As such these decisions are not made arbitrarily. They are dependent on creditable and independent scientific re-search. The fact that the writers of KN and SN may insist that their newspapers have a wider readership does not make it believable to an advertising manager. Claiming number status is a known commercial ploy. It is intended to attract ad revenue. So unless both papers can cite independent sources, Peeping Tom in making this claim of KN’s wider readership status has gained no credibility and therefore I would not give this claim any credence nor would I want to debunk it. This is not my concern.
My concern as a member of the Diaspora who has an avid interest in the direction of my country is to ensure that my fellow citizen’s democratic rights are not trampled upon and to raise issues of governmental and other abuses. The government’s attitude towards SN with President Jagdeo taking the lead has clearly bordered on hostility towards that newspaper, during and post election campaigns. Any close observer of Guyana’s politics would know that this intimidation was based on SN raising very critical questions of the government. Following President Jagdeo’s verbal confrontations with SN GINA, a government controlled agency, began reducing the amount of advertisements (withdrawal of all Ministries ads) given to SN. Any newspaper having observed a sudden and drastic reduction in ad revenue from the government, knowing its deteriorating relationship with such a government would raise the issue. In response, GINA gave as its reason for ad withdrawal, economic and market considerations, when it continues to advertise in other newspapers. Any reasonable person would ask on what bases has GINA made its decision. If GINA’s decision was determined by economic and market considerations then clearly GINA would have cut ads from the Chronicle. GINA would have indeed factored into its decision that some ministries may want to reach the business sector as their target audience (for example, for matters of procurement etc.) and therefore it would make more sense to advertise in SN since this paper has a Business supplement and is more likely to be read by this sector than any of the other dailies. Any competent marketing manager when making decisions on where to place ads would take all these factors into consideration.
However, those of us who follow Guyana politics closely know that GINA’s decision to withdraw ads from SN is most likely based on the government’s attempt at economic coercion of SN in order to suppress that paper’s freedom of expression. In fact Stabroek News has reported that it was reliably informed that the decision came directly from within the office of the President. Now, the President has threatened SN that his Permanent Secretary would pursue a libel action against that paper, another attempt at coercion.
Apparently President Jagdeo has been reading the Peeping Tom column because his news conference sounds like the gibberish of the Peeper’s argument. The fact that the Government took a long time before it began advertising with KN, and KN not making this an issue prior to this controversy becoming a wedge issue for Kaieteur’s columnist is not the fault of defenders of democracy. If KN was in the same position as SN is now in, many democratic loving Guyanese and international organizations I am sure, including me would have been condemning the government’s position in the same fashion. It is sad that partisan politics in Guyana makes every issue a wedge issue.
Many of us are concerned that the withdrawal of advertisements from SN is the government’s attempt at suppressing freedom of the press. This is not new political behaviour, and in fact is indicative of an authoritarian attitude. A well known case is of Joseph Estrada who used his supporters to punish the Philipines Daily Enquirer by advising them to withdraw ads from that paper, after the paper became too critical of his administration in 1999. Other governments such as the Mugabe government of Zimbawe have used these tactics. This type of economic coercion does not usually involve the government pulling 100% of its ads from offending papers. It is usually done gradually to test the society’s appetite for such action. So Peeping Tom documenting the fact that Stabroek News is still receiving ads from some government entities serves no purpose and makes no point to intelligent people. It is the concern of the suppression of press freedom that caused many respectable agencies such as the Guyana Human Rights Association, Reporters Without Borders, and Caribbean newspapers to condemn this behaviour including usual defenders of the government such as Rickey Singh and Vishnu Bisram.
A free press and democracy are inseparable notions. Every democratic loving people must protect the right to a free press and stand up against any action deemed to strangulate the freedom of expression.
Yours faithfully,
Dennis Wiggins
