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When criticisms and comments hurt

Dec 11, 2010 Editorial

On Wednesday, Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon said that his government was upset with the news media over its reportage of electronics legislation. He accused the media of seeking sensationalism with a view to captivating readership.
And not surprisingly, the anger happened to be directed at two private print media organizations—Stabroek News and Kaieteur News. In its business pages, Stabroek News reported on what Dr Luncheon said was the intended legislation governing telecommunication, and not to be excluded are the internet service providers.
Kaieteur News happened to comment on the apparent transfer of television licences, something that the government not so long ago ruled was not on the cards.
If one were to look at the criticism of Stabroek News, one would find that the necessary information is not yet in the public domain. Dr Luncheon said that the draft has been prepared and studied and disseminated to the people who are most likely to be involved. Nothing was given to the media with their wide access to everyone involved.
Further, the media have the ability to analyse but this is not taken into consideration. All the media would have are the records of what went on before and they could only use that information for whatever analysis they may involve. But the government feels that once something goes to anyone outside the government circles then it is in the public domain.
This may be the case but surely, the media are not there waiting like vultures to pounce on anything that the government releases. But even if that were the case, any comment by the media about a government activity is often based on the perception of the community.
There is no government that is not criticised and while governments may not like criticisms they often either explain their position or take the criticism in stride. Kaieteur News, through one of its columnists had cause to comment on the transfer of a broadcast licence. President Bharrat Jagdeo himself went public to announce that broadcast licences are not transferrable.
This would bring into question, the operation of the television channel bought from Anthony Vieira and its continued operation. If Vieira sells it then he can no longer apply for a licence. That is the duty of the new owner. However, the very people to whom the application must be made have repeatedly said that there would be the granting of no new licences until the broadcast spectrum is regularized.
Regularising the spectrum would only be done with the passage of the Broadcast Legislation and this has not yet been presented in draft and is certainly not ready for tabling in the National Assembly. To report on this can never be considered sensationalizing the news for the benefit of readership.
The angry reaction at this observation cannot be understood and smacks of disrespect for the people. It was the same when a Parliamentarian queried the criteria for the issuance of a diplomatic passport. This question elicited the angry response “That is a state secret.”
But then again, the anger must be seen in a wider context. It is not be accident that the government ignores the transgressions by the state media. However, in the case of the private media it is a case of politics. The government has described the private media as the new opposition. Any criticism or analysis by the private media is seen as an anti-government action.
The comments on the broadcast issues are therefore seen as opposition political comments, hence the anger.
The media have long asked for a meaningful relationship with the government and it is the responsibility of the government to accede to such a request. After all, the very newspapers that anger the government are the ones that also report, in a positive light, the achievements or the programmes of the government.
Suffice it to say that the media are not the mouthpiece of the government. There will always be the comments and the analyses.

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