Silencing the private media

Jan 10, 2012 Editorial

All over the world people talk about a free press. Even the former Soviet Union where news was censored insisted that it had a free press. Now there are reports that in Latin America, in our corner of the world, there has been an increase in attacks on the private media to the extent that most could be silenced.
Guyana’s next door neighbour, Venezuela, was one of the first to launch attacks against the privately-owned media. President Hugo Chávez has made it clear there will be no let-up in his offensive against private media organizations he considers hostile towards himself and his regime.
Last year his government raided the property of Guillerma Zuloaga, Globovisión’s president, whom it accuses of usury and “environmental crimes”. It has also fined the channel $4.2m (€3m, £2.5m) for allegedly failing to pay taxes six years ago. Such action has provoked widespread criticism that the government is harassing a powerful opponent.
Mr Chávez has made his feelings abundantly clear. “I can assure you, this network will not remain on the airwaves much longer” if it does not change its ways soon, he warned this week.
Last year at least five privately-owned local and community-based media organizations in three South American countries were the targets of violent attacks, depriving some of them of the means to broadcast. The media owners have been jailed and their outlets closed.
An international organization concluded that very soon the voices of the private media in Latin America could be silenced thus allowing corruption and other ills to continue unchecked.
In Guyana, things have not reached this stage although during the Burnham era political pressure was brought to bear on the private media. There was the withholding of newsprint and the refusal to allow one newspaper to import a printing press.
We saw a change almost immediately after Burnham died. Desmond Hoyte, Burnham’s successor, allowed the establishment of Stabroek News and did nothing when the very Stabroek News lambasted him for perceived evils.
When the People’s Progressive Party came into office other newspapers grew. Kaieteur News emerged and latterly, The Guyana Times joined the ranks of privately-owned newspapers although there is the belief that until recently, it was not as private as one would be led to believe.
Private television stations also mushroomed. Many appeared to support the cause of the political opposition, even forcing the then President Bharrat Jagdeo to describe certain media houses as the new opposition. Yet it has not been plain sailing. There was the police support for the closure of CNS 6 over an attack on President Jagdeo and his administration.
Kaieteur News has been dragged before the courts by none other than President Jagdeo over a column written by a fierce critic. There has been no move to curtail publication but there has been the resort to the courts, a costly exercise for the private media which must enter a defence every time legal action is directed to it.
But why this attack against the private media? For one, no government likes to be criticized so the best way to silence the criticism is to silence the source of the criticism. Kaieteur News has been responsible for bringing the extent of government corruption to the fore. It surely did not win any friends and it more than antagonized the sources of corruption.
There have been no police raids although the police at one time did visit the newspaper office and invite some of the staff members to the Criminal Investigations Department. Someone, somehow, managed to post a threatening message to three Government Ministers and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company concluded that the message was sent from the Kaieteur News domain.
Checks of the entire computer system came up blank. Someone must have hacked into the system to create conditions for administrative action against the newspaper. We do not expect the tide of Latin American repression against the private media to reach in force to Guyana but there are trends. This is something that needs to be guarded against.
On one occasion the government withdrew advertisement from the private media with the hope that the media houses would be starved of funds. Some still fail to attract advertisement and have survived for more than a decade.
But they all need to be on guard for none knows when the attack could come and what could spark it.

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Silencing the private media

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