The Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) has moved to verify whether broadcasters are allocating time for Public Service Announcements (PSAs), in accordance with a contentious amendment to the broadcast legislation that was enacted last year.
In a September 17th, 2018 letter to Chandranarine Sharma of CNS Channel 6, which was seen by Stabroek News, GNBA Board Secretary Violet Boyal requested that he inform the Authority of the time allocated for PSAs for the last week of August.
The letter went on to say that in order for the Authority to be able to verify the information, a copy of the Station’s Programme Schedule for the requested period must be provided.
“GNBA looks forward to your timely response and thanks you for your continued cooperation as we work assiduously towards the development of the broadcast industry in Guyana,” the letter concluded.
Stabroek News confirmed that a similar letter was also sent to the National Television Network (NTN) and its owner, Anand Persaud, said he is still against the mandatory requirement that all stations air public service programmes for up to 60 minutes per day.
The amendment has seen the legislation of a mandatory requirement that all stations air “public service programmes” for up to 60 minutes a day, free of cost, between 6 am and 10 pm. It defined such broadcasts as “programmes produced for the purpose of informing and educating the public, and promoting policies and activities of the Government that benefit the public as a whole.” Such programmes include addresses to the nation by the President and emergency notices or disaster warnings issued by the Civil Defence Commission, the police, fire service, the health ministry or any other authorised agency.
Like Persaud, Savitri Singh, who along with her husband CN Sharma, operates CNS Channel 6, also previously expressed concerns about the requirement. “It must be realised that private stations are not subsidised like NCN. We have to make sure that the broadcast is profitable. We are already faced with heavy fees for licensing so to be profitable we try to get in as much programming as possible. The period they have identified includes our most profitable time, prime time,” she had explained.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had also condemned the provisions of the legislation as an infringement on press freedom and warned that the PSA provision could force broadcasters to air government propaganda free of cost.
Critics have said the PSA requirement is intrusive and appears to be an attempt by the government to insert its content into the schedules of private broadcasters. The renewed interest by the GNBA in PSAs with the approach of local government elections has also been noted.
