The Guyana Chronicle yesterday apologized for an editorial on July 2, which provoked anger because of its racial divisiveness.
The editorial had been condemned by several segments of society including the Justice and Peace Commission of the Roman Catholic Church and the Working People’s Alliance. The apology was contained within a news item on a protest that was mounted outside the Chronicle on Friday over the editorial. The report does not state who was making the apology on behalf of the Chronicle.
The report says towards the end “it should be noted, and appreciated, that the Chronicle newspaper cannot please all of its readership all of the time and unfortunately, the Editorial about which the demonstrators protested, even though well-intentioned and factually correct, was a regrettable slippage that does not represent set policy.
“The Guyana Chronicle wishes to reiterate its quest to strive towards national unity and, in keeping with that goal, wishes to apologise to those who, wrongly, think that the publication intended otherwise”.
In a statement issued yesterday criticizing the editorial, the WPA said: “WPA has no choice but to declare its total loss of confidence in the editor, editorial board and official management of the Guyana Chronicle. It is high time the use of the state media as instruments of political and racial abuse comes to an end.
“There is no doubt that the Chronicle has forfeited all claims to impartiality and national standing. WPA, therefore, urges the general public to, at the very least, begin a boycott of the paper…Do not buy it. We have also instructed our parliamentarians to explore ways to have this matter raised in parliament as one of urgent national concern and to urge the National Assembly to hold a hearing on the entire operations of the Chronicle and other state owned media.”
