Do not funnel tax dollars into illegitimate media houses

Do not funnel tax dollars into illegitimate media houses – GPA President

Feb 03, 2021 News

A view of the crowd at the President’s Media Brunch 2021.

Kaieteur News – President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Nazima Raghubir, was keen to note during the annual Presidential Media Brunch, on Sunday last, that the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) should desist from expending government funds on illegitimate media houses and operatives.

President of the Guyana Press Association, Nazima Raghubir.

“Media houses are not the same as social media commentators,” Raghubir stated, adding that, “we have different duties and ethics and provide a service unmatched.”
Further to this, she outlined that no administration must be seen to be funneling taxpayers’ dollars to “media squatters” who do nothing more than diminish the quality of media and by extension, under-educate and under-inform the public to the long-term detriment of the holistic growth and development of the society.“Guyana is a party to the Sustainable Development Goals, but none of them is achievable without a properly informed and educated nation,” she continued.
While addressing the issue of disinformation in 2020, the GPA President pointed out that the media’s role has been to provide impartial and factual information on any event we report on.
“Our roles are much more different than those of social media commentators. We are to provide factual and unbiased information to our readers and audience,” she added.
In simple terms, journalists would have to make good use of “our fact-checking journalism skills to ask questions, clarify, research, ensure there is a right of reply, and to provide that balance.”