Latest update April 3rd, 2025 7:31 AM

Guyana's largest selling daily and New York's most popular weekly

Latest News

THE EXECUTIVE ARM SHOULD ENJOY A MONOPOLY ON GINA

Feb 16, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The role of a government information service is to report on the work of executive arm of the State. It is not obligated nor is it within its remit to provide coverage for the other arms of the State such as the Legislature and the Judiciary.
A government information service is not required to provide coverage to the opposition. It is perversion of its mandate to do so. It is confined to covering the government, meaning the executive, and not the opposition.
The duty to provide fair coverage to the opposition does not rest with the government information service but instead with the state media. It is the state media which is supposed to provide coverage for the opposition, not the government information service which in my definition is concerned with the executive.
When APNU and AFC were in opposition they denied their support for subventions of GINA – the Government Information and News Agency – on the basis that adequate coverage was not being given to the opposition parties. They did the same for the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN).
They had a case in relation to NCN but were off mark when it came to GINA because, as was repeatedly told to them, GINA is a government information agency and is only concerned with reporting on government activities. The State media on the other had an obligation to ensure fair coverage to all concerned, including the opposition.
It is good to see and hear on state media the opposition leader addressing the National Assembly but why is this being done in the wee hours of the night when most Guyanese are sleeping? It is not only necessary for the state media to report on the opposition it must do so in fair and balanced way.
I will explain what is meant by these two important terms since it is not clear is these concepts are taught to journalists of the media – both private and public – at university or whether these concepts if indeed taught are suffocated when persons join the media.
The concept of fairness demands that all sides of a story be covered. If therefore a government minister says that the total productive forests of the country was shared out under the previous administration, then a comment should be sought from all the necessary stakeholders, once this practical, so that the reader gets all sides of the story. It is not good enough to report what was said then the next day report the retort from other stakeholders,
Fairness demands that interested parties are given the chance of response; this should be done immediately as far as is practicable.
Balance is really an obligation of editors. They should ensure that all sides of society are given coverage. The state media has a special duty to report on government but this cannot be done at the expense of denying the opposition coverage. But it does not end there.
The government should not get coverage during prime time and the opposition during non- prime periods when everyone is sleeping. This, in fact, was one of the criticisms made by APNU and the AFC of GINA when it was being controlled by the PPP government. This criticism was made in relation to the coverage of parliament.
The new government has had eight months to settle in. The honeymoon period is over. There needs to be set in place standards for fair and balanced coverage by the State media. The opposition parties should be accorded the right to response, as was demanded by the AFC when it was in opposition.
Air time should be accorded to the opposition party and to the ruling coalition in proportion to the seats allocated in the National Assembly.
Local government elections will soon be held. All the contesting parties and independents should be allowed air time on state radio and television to get their views across.
A new culture of press freedom is needed one that allows for greater fairness and balance within the state media.
But when it comes to the government information agency, the executive arm should enjoy a monopoly.

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| March, 31st, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

 

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Rotary Club of New Amsterdam Childhood Obesity Prevention Inter Secondary School Tapeball Cricket competition continues

Rotary Club of New Amsterdam Childhood Obesity Prevention Inter...

Apr 03, 2025

Kaieteur Sports- When the competition continued there were action at the Rose Hall Community Centre in East Canje and the Berbice High School Grounds. There were wins for Berbice Educational...
Read More
Demerara beat Berbice by 6 wickets after Apple half-century blitz

Demerara beat Berbice by 6 wickets after Apple...

Apr 03, 2025

DCB Under19 Inter-Association Cricket Tournament 2025 begins

DCB Under19 Inter-Association Cricket Tournament...

Apr 03, 2025

Tagore Memorial Secondary School benefits from cricket gear, courtesy of the Bheer family

Tagore Memorial Secondary School benefits from...

Apr 03, 2025

Hurricanes knock Eagles off course despite Anderson gritty 77*

Hurricanes knock Eagles off course despite...

Apr 03, 2025

Peter’s Hall, Herstelling ‘A’ advance to EBDCA Division II 40-Over semis

Peter’s Hall, Herstelling ‘A’ advance to...

Apr 03, 2025

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.

Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]