-dismisses concerns as blatant ‘self-interest’
Government is moving away from the traditional and more expensive means of advertising in the print media and is taking advantage of the transformation in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon says.
“Our intention is to migrate, as much as possible, definitely more and more… government ads and government notices into the electronic world,” Luncheon said yesterday during his post cabinet press briefing. Regarding the establishment of the e-procurement website, Luncheon said “this is the wave of the future.” “It is most unlikely that those benefits that so easily accrue from the investments in ICT, we would overlook them, because of the utterances of those who insist that there is something devious and unprincipled about what we are doing,” he added. He was at the time responding to a question from this newspaper about the future of state advertisements in the print media, following the establishment of the website.
He said too that government stood to benefit from “capping the extent of (its) expenditure on advertisement” via print media.
Asked specifically about the placement of advertisements in the Guyana Chronicle, Luncheon said that advertisements in the print media will not be totally ruled out. “This is a cultural thing, quite a bit of those who advertise, have had longstanding engagements-financial, nostalgic and otherwise-with various print media houses,” he said. “And then some categories of notices, whether on the basis of existing legislation or the [explicit] desire of those who are placing the ads for it to appear in the print media. And there is enough room, in the system, to contemplate those instances that would be used to support ads, notices in the print media,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Government, in a statement issued yesterday, said it noted the “recent fulminations by certain sections of the media, including last Monday’s editorial by Stabroek News, on the matter …” and said that these were solely influenced by “blatant self-interest”.
“Any serious examination of these comments by specific privately owned media houses would lead to the inescapable conclusion that these comments are motivated by nothing other than blatant self-interest and commercial considerations, and are devoid of any principle or objectivity.”
Pointing to Monday’s editorial, “GINA ads and the procurement website,” the government said that while reference was made “to the need for value for money”, almost in the same breath, “the obvious economies that would be generated by the establishment of the website” was dismissed. “Indeed, even more brazenly, the editorial acknowledges the potential for the website to generate savings, but then seeks to ascribe negative motive to Government for wishing to generate such savings,” the statement said.
“In addition, comments such as those contained in the Stabroek News’ editorial completely ignore the fact that the use of electronic or other dedicated means to publish Government advertisements is a well-established practice the world over.
Many Governments use websites to publish ads, while other use an official publication such as the Gazette to publish ads. There are in fact very few examples that can be cited from the rest of the world, where Government advertisements are placed in mainstream newspapers on a routine ongoing basis.”
Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief Anand Persaud said the statement by the government was woefully deficient as it did not provide a reasonable rationale for suddenly pulling ads from the print media. Since it was now extolling the virtues of electronic advertising, Persaud said the government could have been placing ads for many years now on web and he questioned why this had not been done as an accompaniment to the print and broadcast ads.
He said the real reason for the move may have been hinted at in Dr Luncheon’s statement about the expense incurred in print advertising as it seems that the government was conserving on expenditure in some areas in light of next year’s scheduled general elections. Persaud added that the government also had to convince the public that the website and the poorly patronized Guyana Chronicle would provide sufficient publicity and notice of procurement advertisements and other government business. The government has for the third time in less than four years changed its policy on state advertisements in the print media and this, Persaud said, was a classic sign of policy jumble or worse, the rewarding or punishing of media entities. The latter he noted would constitute a clear violation of the press freedom Declaration of Chapultepec to which Guyana is a signatory.
The website, www.eprocure.gov.gy, was established after legislation was passed in the National Assembly, to permit the publication of government procurement opportunities on a freely accessible website. A release from the Office of the President, on August 9, said that the website would enhance accountability and transparency by displaying all current ads and notices according to sectors and categories while maintaining an inventory of past placements.
Since its establishment, the website has been regularly updated.
Monday’s editorial, noted that since August 9, there has been no booking of ads by GINA in Stabroek News or other private newspapers though some have been placed in the Guyana Chronicle.
During the debate on the bill, PNCR-1G MP Winston Murray said it is important that procurement opportunities also be published in the newspapers since this was the preferred method for some. Murray proposed that slight amendments be made in the bill to make sure that it is clear that the publication on the website would be in addition to publication in the newspapers. AFC MP Khemraj Ramjattan expressed similar concerns to those raised by Murray as to whether publication on the website will be done in addition to publication in the newspapers and suggested that a section of the bill be amended to ensure this was achieved.
Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, in wrapping up debate on the bill, said that when determining the publication of the procurement opportunities, consideration will be given to what is the most relevant avenue.
The issue of the award of state ads has become a contentious one ever since 2007 when Stabroek News had all of its state ads pulled for a period of 17 months. No reason was given for this withdrawal but after SN went public with the cut-off, government officials and GINA then argued that it was the policy that the state paper would receive ads along with the privately-owned newspaper with the highest circulation. The Kaieteur News was then identified as this newspaper without the benefit of any analysis of circulation or sectoral preference. The placement of government ads in SN resumed in April 2008, without any official explanation being given.
However, in recent times the Kaieteur News (KN) had been getting fewer ads while the Guyana Times had seen an increase in the portion of state ads being received.