By Akola Thompson
Given its powerful role in the political realm, the media has long been regarded as the fourth estate or the fourth branch of government. The latter can often be a contentious term depending who you ask. However, it speaks to the important duty of the media in observing, verifying and reporting on all parts of national life and keeping citizens engaged and informed on issues that are relevant to them. Despite the growth of public distrust in the media, it continues to have significant impact on shaping the minds of people and the narratives they support. It is the media’s capacity for influencing social consciousness that has made it a frequent target of political suppression and a tool for the spread of false and misrepresented information. More and more, there is a battle against reality and free thought.
Guyana has never really had a strong history of a free press. Attempts to muzzle the media have been a frequent part of the political atmosphere since independence. During the 1960s and 70s, media suppression was rationalized as being necessary to aid in nationalistic growth and pride given our status as a newly minted postcolonial nation. This was a common theme ripping through many developing countries that found themselves under autocratic rule. This is no coincidence; a free press independent in thought and coverage is seen as a considerable threat to the ruling elites of the day. With fierce pushback against media muzzling however, there was the need to become a bit more strategic with the ways in which they silenced unwanted media. Recognizing the need to control information and the access to it, government, businesses and religious interests would birth their own media outlets in an attempt to control and influence public opinion.
All around we look; we can see instances of media suppression and silencing of opposition views by political and corporate interests particularly. Despite proclamations and commitments to ensure a free media by successive governments, their paternalistic relationship with the industry has not changed. We only need to recall the constant threat of violence and lawsuits against media houses such as Kaieteur News and Stabroek News to see the disturbing patterns. Pegged as an anti-corruption paper, Kaieteur News particularly has suffered blatant attempts at media muzzling as was seen in the execution style killings of five of their pressmen in 2006 and further threats of violence from members within the PPP/C in 2014.
Then there is Stabroek News, which has long been regarded as the most independent and trusted news source in the country given its historic commitment to unbiased and intellectually stimulating news and features. Facing similar attempts of silencing and discrediting due to their practice of providing views from different sections of the political divide, the preferred course of action in attempts to muzzle them so far has been through economic sanctions against the paper. This clear misuse of taxpayer dollars to assuage petty political egos first occurred in 2006 under the reign of the PPP/C. Upon giving space to the then newly formed Alliance for Change, advertisements to Stabroek News were significantly cut.
Proponents claiming to be for the preservation of journalistic freedom and integrity had come out in support of a media free from political interference after the attacks against Kaieteur and Stabroek, but now that they’re in a position of power, they’re singing a more sinister and different tune and once again, Stabroek News has found itself a victim of politically driven economic sanctions – this time around for their stance on the caretaker government’s unconstitutional holding on to power. The Department of Public Information is reported as having significantly cut advertisements from Stabroek and misrepresenting their position over temporarily stopped ads in the face of outstanding debt on DPI’s part.
Many are wont to think that this is only the beginning of the coalition’s aim to control the media, but this is something that has been in the works since their election to office. While their communications strategy often seems lacking and almost infantile in nature, they have managed a coordinated approach at public subterfuge and bolstering of political agendas through the media. This was first seen in their establishment of the Department of Public Information and the aggressive recruiting of many young and established journalists and other media personnel.
While it was touted as being an avenue to objective news on the branches of government and country, to this day they have had little other function or purpose outside of the shameful promotion of government press releases and propaganda.
The growing reach of mass media matched with the ambitious and protectionist nature of politicians and their egos is something that we all need to keep a close eye on. There is a vested interest in ensuring citizens remain apathetic and unquestioning. In an age where the powerful and corrupt have begun to aggressively use media to their advantage, we as a people need to become our own editors and fact checkers. There is a growing need to continuously filter and verify the information we receive lest we fall into the trap of letting power brokers influence our thoughts, actions and politics.
