AFC cries foul over 'state media' coverage
Written by Demerara Waves Wednesday, 21 September 2011 17:13
The Alliance For Change is crying foul over the recent attention it has attracted from the state and pro-government media houses as the election season deepens.
At its weekly news conference on Wednesday party executive Gerhard Ramsaroop said that that they have noted with “increasing consternation the decline into rabid political partisanship being undertaken by the state and government-supported media.” “Even more sinister however is the trend towards what appears for all intents and purposes to be a centrally directed campaign against the opposition in general – and the Alliance in particular.
On the one hand we find, for example, the Guyana Times/Guyana Chronicle collusion in peddling the myth of a leadership crisis in the Alliance, even as the PPP has failed to select a Prime Ministerial candidate weeks away from a National Elections,” Ramsaroop stated. On the other hand, he said, it sets a dangerous precedent for the peddling of shameless propaganda during the upcoming season. He noted that the government is fond of saying that there is freedom of expression in Guyana and that media operatives here do not face the extremes of some of their colleagues in other countries.
Ramsaroop pointed out that the preamble of the Declaration of Chapultepec, signed by President Jagdeo in May, 2002, states that criminals, terrorists and drug traffickers still threaten, attack and murder journalists but that that is not the only way to harm a free press and free expression. “The temptation to control and regulate has led to decisions that limit the independent action of the media, of journalists and of citizens who wish to seek and disseminate information and opinions,” he quoted from the preamble.
The AFC executive stated that the banning of journalists from press conferences, abuse of the state media towards partisan ends, collaboration with and state support private media entities to publish a partisan line all limit the independence of the media in Guyana. He noted the reestablishment of GECOM’s Media Monitoring Unit and called on the body to issue fortnightly reports assessing the media environment in Guyana in light of the recent trend.
“Outside of the Unit however we would like to take the opportunity to call on the members of the Guyana Press Association to not only remain vigilant against this increased tendency to thwart and undermine the democratic function of the media, but to be vocal in its condemnation whenever such infringements occur,” Ramsaroop concluded.
Source
Written by Demerara Waves Wednesday, 21 September 2011 17:13
The Alliance For Change is crying foul over the recent attention it has attracted from the state and pro-government media houses as the election season deepens.
At its weekly news conference on Wednesday party executive Gerhard Ramsaroop said that that they have noted with “increasing consternation the decline into rabid political partisanship being undertaken by the state and government-supported media.” “Even more sinister however is the trend towards what appears for all intents and purposes to be a centrally directed campaign against the opposition in general – and the Alliance in particular.
On the one hand we find, for example, the Guyana Times/Guyana Chronicle collusion in peddling the myth of a leadership crisis in the Alliance, even as the PPP has failed to select a Prime Ministerial candidate weeks away from a National Elections,” Ramsaroop stated. On the other hand, he said, it sets a dangerous precedent for the peddling of shameless propaganda during the upcoming season. He noted that the government is fond of saying that there is freedom of expression in Guyana and that media operatives here do not face the extremes of some of their colleagues in other countries.
Ramsaroop pointed out that the preamble of the Declaration of Chapultepec, signed by President Jagdeo in May, 2002, states that criminals, terrorists and drug traffickers still threaten, attack and murder journalists but that that is not the only way to harm a free press and free expression. “The temptation to control and regulate has led to decisions that limit the independent action of the media, of journalists and of citizens who wish to seek and disseminate information and opinions,” he quoted from the preamble.
The AFC executive stated that the banning of journalists from press conferences, abuse of the state media towards partisan ends, collaboration with and state support private media entities to publish a partisan line all limit the independence of the media in Guyana. He noted the reestablishment of GECOM’s Media Monitoring Unit and called on the body to issue fortnightly reports assessing the media environment in Guyana in light of the recent trend.
“Outside of the Unit however we would like to take the opportunity to call on the members of the Guyana Press Association to not only remain vigilant against this increased tendency to thwart and undermine the democratic function of the media, but to be vocal in its condemnation whenever such infringements occur,” Ramsaroop concluded.
Source