Attacking the messenger rather than the message

Jan 15, 2020 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

In responding to both Tony Vieira and myself on the subject of broadcast coverage of the political parties contesting the elections, Mr. Enrico Woolford has indulged in ad hominem attacks on Vieira and myself, attacking the messenger rather than the message.
I suppose that this will impress the party faithful, but it does not address the issue at hand.
Tony Vieira, Kit Nascimento and Enrico Woolford are not the issue. The issue is that both of the State owned and operated media, the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Guyana Chronicle, are being used by government for political propaganda purposes, and this is patently obvious to even the casual observer.
In the period of a General Election, this is particularly pernicious. In the case of broadcasting which is supposed to be regulated by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) to serve the public interest and convenience, it is particularly offensive and is in violation of the licence under which NCN is governed.
As I have stated in my letter, “a general election would be neither free nor fair if a contesting party is unfairly denied access to the broadcast media…or a particular party is favoured access to the broadcast media”. The fact remains that the assets of NCN are being used to favour coverage of the APNU+AFC political rallies by comparison with the PPP/C.
It matters not whether this is conducted through the means of public broadcasting on the airwaves or network streaming. It is wrong, it is indefensible and it should attract the attention of the GNBA and GECOM who are ultimately responsible for the conduct of a free and fair election.
Regards,
Kit Nascimento

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