-calls for greater press freedom here and in Bermuda
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) on Tuesday called for greater press freedom in the wake of the temporary closure of CNS Channel Six and the “use of official advertising as a weapon of reprisal against a newspaper” in Bermuda.
In a press release IAPA said it is concerned that President Bharrat Jagdeo, as Minister of Communications handed down a four-month suspension of Channel Six on Saturday on the grounds that the station had “infringed on the terms of its licence.” Channel Six had aired, on three occasions; a call-in by one of its viewers threatening to kill the president should anything happen to her family.
IAPA quoted the Guyana Press Association (GPA) as saying that it would not issue an opinion on the cause of the alleged offence but it deplored Jagdeo’s action since the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting had decided that it would not act against the station as its director had apologised for the alleged content of the call. “The GPA called on Jagdeo to lift the broadcast ban because he was himself the aggrieved party in the matter,” the IAPA said. Moreover, IAPA President Earl Maucker and Chairman of its Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information Gonzalo Marroquin said, “a four-month suspension in a competitive media environment such as the current one was practically “a shutdown.”” They also issued a public call on Jagdeo “to reconsider the punitive action and not to engage in any reprisals against the media because of their editorial views.”
IAPA noted that government had only recently resumed advertising with the Stabroek News 17 months after it withdrew ads and after its insistence, along with calls from other local, regional and international groups, that government cease ‘punishing’ the paper for its critical editorial content. Meanwhile, in a letter to Bermuda Prime Minister Ewart Brown, IAPA said, “Discrimination in the placement of advertising severely restricts freedom of the press.” The letter signed by Maucker and Marroquin added that “the government should allocate its resources with complete transparency and employ purely technical criteria.”
The IAPA wrote Brown in response to a complaint by Bermuda paper The Royal Gazette that the government had cut back placement of official advertising on the grounds that it was cutting costs and that it would “concentrate its advertising in electronic media, especially radio and internet.” However, the paper said it believed the ads cutback was “a payback for its “The Right to Know – Giving Power to the People,” campaign that advocates access to public information legislation.” The paper also said that despite its claims the government continued to advertise in other print media. The government also announced that it was suspending all subscriptions to the paper.