Dear Editor,
There are four newspapers in this country, three are independent, one of which can be described as pro-government and the fourth being the official Government newspaper. There are no audited figures so none can claim to be the most read or most popular. There is no way to know how many copies are actually printed or sold. A look at newsstands around the country, depending on where you look, will tell different stories. For example, in Georgetown, The Stabroek News and Kaieteur News appears to be the quickest sellers with Guyana Times and The Guyana Chronicle tailing. As mentioned earlier, the story is different wherever you go but the Stabroek and Kaieteur are definitely the most sought after. I should add that some readers buy more than one paper.
I often wonder how the government goes about selecting the most effective to publish their notices etc. other than by a hit and miss process. As a retired advertising professional, who worked only in media all my life, beginning at the Guiana Graphic, then owned by the Thompson Newspaper Group, and which published monthly ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) figures along with the other dailies of that period are able to determine cost per inch and reach and by extension readership. It appears that in Guyana, the bulk of advertising goes to the one with the least reach while ignoring the most effective based on political considerations. Local Radio and TV are at the same disadvantage apart from the Evening News edition of NCN and E- Networks News. TV and radio are instant, and one must put the time aside, when possible, to listen with a choice of a repeat next morning if you missed the first broadcast, but at a time when you are busy getting ready for work as well as preparing to take the children to school. Radio is at a greater disadvantage where News is concerned for obvious reasons such as the number of channels and their brief NEWS presentations.
This leaves the printed and online media your best choice for news. Social Media accounts for over 50% of news read and viewed but there are no country figures suggesting how many Guyanese get their local news through this medium. It is also inundated with info and tit bits that it is not only distracting but unreliable in content. Why printed media? Because you can read it at your own leisure, in your own time and even use it to make later referrals. They say that opinions are harden mental positions, nevertheless, what I have laid out here are subject to scrutiny and correction by the experts. Governments cannot do without the media, be it free or controlled, as it is their only way to reach mass audiences. A government controlled media is not and will never be totally reliable as it tends to be more subjective than objective. For this reason and these alone, one cannot depend on the stories, opinions and press releases put out by government agencies and sources.
The free press on the other hand, often finds difficulty in verifying or challenging releases by the government or even getting accurate if any information at all on breaking news. In Guyana, the disrespect for the media is contemptuous and often discourteous. It is common to read that calls to verify or get additional information are never returned and to hear some derogatory terms used to describe news personnel and agencies. This attitude to the free media is worrying. Our leaders at every level would like the media to only print what they say and often would get most defensive if any or all of it is challenged. The Stabroek News Editorial on the performance on the PPP government to date is a current example. We see and hear everyday things that are deeply concerning to every Guyanese through the letters they write, but they get little or no reaction except the ones government or its hardline supporters are very uncomfortable with.
Questions are raised about GuySuCo, the Mahdia Dormitory Fire & Settlement, and the cost of living, the lawlessness on the roads, selective contract distribution, poorly maintained and built roads, the numerous issues surrounding Oil & Gas, environmental issues and an endless list which gets scant responses or none at all. Governments will always be questioned; it is how it works in democracies and those who hold little or no consultation with the opposition or people who placed them there are the ones mostly expected to react in a negative fashion. I was recently interviewed by a well-known past Kaieteur News contributor and feature writer. His major concern about the letters I write to the press was not their subject matter but rather wanted to know if I was anti-government. We have so little understanding of the way a democracy works that in raising issues of concern you are considered as pro or antigovernment, how ridiculous. Nothing prepares you for Guyana.
Sincerely,
B A. Ramsay