Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 17, 2022 News
…raises concerns about access, respect for media
Kaieteur News – The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) recently published its 2022 Report in which Guyanese political leaders have been criticised for dodging reporters and hosting “government friendly” interviews, rather than press briefings.
The State of the Caribbean Media Report titled ‘Through the Pandemic’ is the second document compiled by ACM to capture the concerns of regional journalists and media enterprises.
The report, released on May 12, last, gives detailed information regarding specific challenges faced by 14 Caribbean countries, including Guyana.
It said that the media is often reflective of the political division in the country as media houses often show a political bias through one-sided reports.
On the other hand, the report highlighted, “While there are exceptions to this, media workers continue to face challenges in accessing information from government and officials.”
Importantly, it was noted too that since the People’s Progressive Party was elected in 2020, there has been no post Cabinet press engagements despite promises by the Head of State, Irfaan Ali. Instead, the document said that the President has held a few press conferences and has resorted to issuing briefings or press releases in the state media.
Meanwhile, “Interviews with key national issues are often granted to social media commentators and media houses that are government friendly. These include interviews done by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. While Leader of the Opposition, Jagdeo held weekly press engagements. Press engagements are now less frequent and in many cases are granted to government friendly media houses,” the Regional report added.
Similarly, it said that the main Parliamentary Opposition members are also known for providing interviews to opposition friendly media houses. “They are also known to provide recorded statements leaving little room for clarification. In early 2022 Leader of the PNC Aubrey Norton sought to chastise media workers for not asking questions based on the party’s statement,” the document said.
It was also noted under Guyana’s performance that “there is a clear attempt to divide the media using state resources”. The report explained that is particularly the case as some media houses and journalists are afforded unprecedented access to state resources to provide coverage favourable to the government.
The issue of government bypassing locally accredited journalists was recently flagged by the President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Nazima Raghubir. She used the opening of a two-day conference on May 3, last to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, to remind the President that no post cabinet media briefings have been held but in response, the President said his government has been the most accessible.
In a subsequent statement, the GPA called on government to stop using social media influencers to do the work of journalists. “If politicians across the divide claim to have any modicum of interest in improving the standard of journalism, then they ought to immediately cease utilising social media influencers in the place of journalists.”
In fact, “To continue doing so is to contribute to the degradation of journalism at the altar of expediency of reach, likes and shares,” the body argued.
Since then, the Vice President has not only ignored this call, but has also made it clear that he has a right to speak with who he chooses to.
The Caribbean Media Report comes 17 years since landmark publication of The Looming Storm in 2005 – an early milestone in the development and growth of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) as the premier, umbrella body for regional media and journalism associations.
‘Through the Pandemic – State of the Caribbean Media Report 2022’ was completed with support from IFEX and was introduced to a virtual event co-hosted by the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) on the occasion of Word Press Freedom Day 2022.
The publication follows months of research by a team led by ACM President, Nazima Raghubir, and including researchers/writers Rachael Espinet, Soyini Grey and Raghubir.
Countries/territories covered by the Report include Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao (the ABC islands of the Netherlands Antilles), The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Wesley Gibbings, who was tasked with the overall editorial management of the report, said at the launch, “The objective of this exercise was to produce a durable record of the challenges of Caribbean media, and efforts to address them and to provide a reliable source of information on the nature of the media industry in the region.”
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