Private sector umbrella organizations are concerned over the dearth of specialized reporting on matters of business and finance in the local media and say that training programmes for journalists at the University of Guyana ought to take account of this glaring deficiency.
Speaking on Wednesday at a media workshop titled “Capacity Building – Supporting Professionals in the Media Environment Junior Vice President of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and Deputy General Manager of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) Terrence Holder said that with the exception of the once-weekly Stabroek Business published as a pullout from the Stabroek News newspaper and the Sunday business column in the same newspaper contributed by Chartered Accountant and Attorney at Law Christopher Ram, there was no evidence on any sustained effort in the local media to focus attention on business issues.
Asserting that local consumers of news were experiencing “a paucity of both quality and quantity” in terms of reportage on finance and business Holder said that there needed to be a shift from the prevailing focus of producing “generalists” in the field of journalism to specialization that allowed for training in particular disciplines. Holder said that business reporting had to become part of the focus of day to day reporting in Guyana adding that at least one journalist from each media house in the country ought to be equipped with some measure of specialized training in business reporting.
Last Wednesday’s media workshop organized by the GCCI in collaboration with the Guyana Press Association (GPA) followed earlier discussions between this newspaper and then GCCI President Ramesh Dookhoo regarding the need for more reporting on business issues in the local media. In calling for the forging of closer “functional relationships” between business leaders and the media Holder said that he believed that changes in the local business culture meant that business leaders were now “more approachable.”
Meanwhile, in his address to the workshop PSC Vice President and GT&T Chief Executive Yog Mahadeo has called for “wider open doors of communication between the business community and media professionals. Apart from echoing Holder’s call for the creation of a pool of specialized business reporters Mahadeo also expressed the view that the enhancement of ICT education should become an integral part of local media training. Discourses among local media personnel on reporting on business issues have generally focused on what is widely felt to be an aversion to engaging the media among many of the country’s prominent business holders. This newspaper’s own experience is that apart from a handful of business owners and managers, the business community often displays a decided wariness regarding engagements with the media. The view has been expressed in some circles that private sector reluctance to engage the media may be linked to fear of official sanctions in cases where public comments may be construed as being critical of government.
Some journalists have also criticized what is widely held to be a virtual information blackout on the part of some state agencies whose responsibilities have a bearing on assessment of private sector activities. Access to statistical information emanating from the Bank of Guyana and the Statistical Bureau and other state agencies is believed to be subject to tiers of official clearance which are felt to lead directly to cabinet ministers. In this newspaper’s experience, this is not, however, a universal phenomenon.
Last Wednesday’s Media Workshop was conducted by Jamaican journalist Milton Walker.
