Latest update November 30th, 2024 12:53 AM
Int’l press body calls on Govt. to review ads distribution
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) has asked Government to review its policy of allocating state ads, following a complaint by privately-owned Stabroek News.
IAPA
Hours after the newspaper wrote that it has seen an increase of ads for the month of December following the matter becoming public, a statement from the IAPA surfaced.
The body said it is expressing concern to the Guyana authorities regarding a complaint of discrimination in the distribution of official advertising against the Stabroek News in retaliation for its journalistic content.
In a communication sent to the Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo and the Director of the Department of Public Information, Imran Khan, IAPA on 27th December, 2019, asked the government to review its current practice of distribution of official advertising.
IAPA also released the full text of the letter signed by the president of the IAPA, Christopher Barnes, of the Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner, and the president of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Roberto Rock, of the Mexican portal La Silla Rota.
“On behalf of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), we wish to express our concern regarding the complaint of the Stabroek News of Guyana, one of our members, pertaining to discrimination in the distribution of official advertising in reprisal for its journalistic content.”
IAPA made it clear to Government that this practice, as outlined, is incompatible with the Declaration of Chapultepec, signed in 2002 by President Bharrat Jagdeo, and represents a grotesque act of discrimination against the press, to which IAPA always pays special attention.
“This form of censorship affects not only a publishing house and its journalists; it affects the society as a whole, which is deprived of relevant information on the performance of government and elected officials.”
IAPA said in its letter that it holds further that the application of discriminatory policies in the granting of official advertising can be construed as acts of corruption, whereby public resources provided by citizens are used for the private interests of administrators, becoming a form of embezzlement of public funds. “State advertising should be delivered with full transparency and technical criteria, equity and through efficient management of public resources.”
IAPA pointed out that the Declaration of Chapultepec states that, “the media and journalists should neither be discriminated against nor favoured because of what they write or say”, and that “the granting or withdrawal of government advertising may not be used to reward or punish the media or individual journalists.”
These concepts also included in the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
“It is against this background that IAPA calls on the Guyanese Government, in the interest of preserving freedom of expression in the country, to review its current practice of distribution of official advertising so as to ensure that neither Stabroek News or any other media house is adversely affected.”
The issue has not been something new.
Kaieteur News, under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) experienced withdrawal of ads for prolonged periods.
The issue has been surfacing for years now after it became clear that it is a weapon used against media houses critical of the government of the day.
President David Granger had been questioned on the use of ads as a weapon and had made it clear that it is a commercial issue that is being handled between the newspaper and the state.
The president and government had accused the newspaper of selectively handling its news when it came to coverage of government matters.
Stabroek News itself had initially said that it refused to carry state ads because it was owed millions.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to the defence and promotion of freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 publications from the Western Hemisphere, and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
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