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Media self-regulation is nonsense

Sep 02, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Self-regulation of the media is nonsensical. Self-regulation is part of what led to the global financial crash in 2008. You can’t put the fox to watch the hen house. Broadcasting legislation was passed in Guyana in July 2011 making provision for the creation of a board-run National Broadcasting Authority which will regulate the media sector.
The recently passed legislation which provides for independent budgets for constitutional bodies would give this broadcasting authority financial independence and a mechanism can be put in place so that the selection of the Commissioners of the broadcasting authority reflect political consensus with terms that straddle election cycles so as to maintain independence from political manipulation.
The government of Guyana needs to get out of Commercial media, except maybe for some minority stake. Leave management and the business of media to the private/non-government sector. The government needs GINA to produce daily news digests which the private media would have to air in time allocated for government broadcasts. This model works excellently in Jamaica, where there is a robust broadcast media that helps to hold the government accountable and provides timely and relevant entertainment and information to the Jamaican public.
The above mainly speaks to broadcast media, but the principle of government not being involved in the commercial media business should also apply to the print media. When necessary GINA can provide copy for the print media to use as they feel fit, with regulation of what is printed being covered by libel laws, and socially agreed standards. Regulation of the print media can be seen as part of the role of the broadcasting authority.
An important reason why there needs to be independent regulation of media in Guyana (print, radio, TV (including cable)] is because of the dynamics of Guyanese race relations, which can be exploited by unscrupulous persons, who in their quest for power would not hesitate to use the commercial media to create racial discord.
Fitzgerald Yaw

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