“No comment” was the brusque response from Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo when asked last week whether his stance on the state media had changed.
Nagamootoo’s recent position on state-owned media appears to be a retreat from previous postures by him as well as APNU and the AFC and when approached by Stabroek News at the Public Buildings last week, when the question was put to him, the Prime Minister said “no comment” before walking away.
Nagamootoo last month generated concern about possible government interference in the state media when he told reporters at the Public Buildings that he was “surprised and disappointed” by a headline which appeared in the Chronicle. Nagamootoo spoke with the reporter who wrote the article and subsequently said the Chronicle “is a government paper and I would expect that for a paper that it has a point of view that supports a government perspective…”
He had further argued that the Guyana Chronicle “…is a government newspaper…a fully supported established company of the State…one would expect that it would merit the views of government.”
Subsequently, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said that government is working on a policy to ensure responsible reporting by the state media. Harmon said the policy is being considered and is not yet completed. “It is important that we establish clearly that there is a responsibility, which the media has, to ensure that news is put to the Guyanese public and the public at large, the international community at large, that is responsible,” he said. This appears to contradict the pre-election view of the coalition partners.
In its manifesto, the APNU+AFC coalition had pledged to guarantee the independence of the media, freedom of access to information, the liberalisation of broadcasting and the removal of barriers to access to the State Media.
Writing in their column in Stabroek News in April this year, the APNU+AFC alliance had said that “the state-owned media will operate independently of government. Privately operated media houses will no longer be subject to harassment, intimidation and threats of violence. Freedom of the press will be made a reality in Guyana. And the coalition will undertake to review and repeal existing laws which suppress and oppress the media.”
Last year, the AFC had slammed calls by the then PPP/C administration for government regulation of the media, saying that it is a duty for the media profession itself. “AFC is opposed to the state or politicians legally regulating or controlling the press. Though we admit that standards ought to be raised… this should to be done by self-regulation” Nagamootoo had said.
The veteran journalist/ politician explained that by self-regulation his party expects journalists and their professional associations to adopt high standards of ethics, and have greater regard for truth, verifiable facts, balance and fairness in their work. “Several of our journalists, mostly in the free and independent media, have already distinguished themselves for adopting these higher standards,” he had said.
Nagamootoo, who was a former Information Minister in the PPP/C administration, had said that his party was not opposed to the independent monitoring of the press. He had blasted the then government, accusing the PPP/Civic-led administration of double-standards by pushing for media regulation while abusing the state-owned media to its advantage.
“AFC believes that our media ought to continue the search by self-regulation of credible standards of journalistic ethics and responsibility. In this regard, the government has a legal duty to protect press freedom, not to undermine it… we do not need to regulate the press, to make laws that could further fetter it, that could muzzle it, and turn it into a toothless poodle,” he had said.
“Historically the press has been the fourth estate, and in some societies the last bastion of a free society. We need an inquisitive press, not state inquisition against the press,” Nagamootoo had emphasised.
Meantime, at a meeting with staff of the Guyana Chronicle in May, Nagamootoo had urged that the newspaper be fair and balanced in its coverage.
Further, in the National Assembly in June, Nagamootoo had said that this administration would ensure that the media is respected. “I want to assure that under this administration, there will be full respect for the media, full respect to the plural nature of our media and that no attempt would be made to curb anyone who pursues constitutional rights of freedom of expression, freedom to impart knowledge and information…and the right of those entities to enjoy protection under the law,” the Prime Minister asserted.
“This government would not only promote professionalism in journalism and promote the ethics and high standards of journalism but we would also protect journalists who practise the profession faithfully to their own standards, faithfully to their own ethics and that you will see less…ideally no interference from the minister as minister responsible for public [information],” Nagamootoo had said.
