Tenth anniversary of withdrawal of state ads from SN by Jagdeo administration

Late founder of Stabroek News David de Caires (right, foreground) speaks to local and foreign journalists outside the Caricom Secretariat, during a protest against the cutting off of ads to this newspaper at in October 2007.

November, 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of a 17-month withdrawal of state advertising from Stabroek News by the Jagdeo administration in what has come to be seen as the most serious attack on press freedom during the period of PPP/C governance from 1992 to 2015.

The withdrawal of the state ads began just months after the August 2006 general elections and followed severe attacks on Stabroek News by then president Bharrat Jagdeo and government officials on a variety of issues including columns that were being carried in the newspaper for leaders of the Alliance for Change (AFC).