[www.inewsguyana.com] – Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall has reiterated his call for local journalists to partner with the government towards building a better nation.
The AG was quoted in a Government Information Agency (GINA) bulletin as saying, “In my view there is no greater freedom to the human being than freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and freedom of thought.”
He said over the last 22 years, there has been the proliferation of “over 20 privately owned television outfits operating in the country, two newspapers operating, established under this government, you see over eight or more radio stations operating in the radio spectrum.”
The AG added that with the establishment of all these and more media outlets, a lot of the content coming from these entities is not government friendly, but yet they are allowed to operate without any hassle.
“They are not supposed to be friendly, but the point is that they are operating under a free environment where they are free to disagree with the government, they are free to criticise the government and not one of them I have heard come forward to make an allegation that any member of the government ever attempted to intimidate them or to impose upon them a view or to express any form of censorship on them.”
AG Nandlall added that it is his strong belief that Guyana has overall acceptable standards in terms of freedom of the press and freedom of expression.
The AG added that in his view, a journalist when covering a story should do so objectively.
“If he wants to write a commentary or a column that’s a different matter, but when you are covering an event I think the ethical requirements are that you give an objective, dispassionate description of that event… you know press freedom is a great power and with power comes responsibility. The press can destroy government, they can destroy characters’ of people and communities and that’s why they are referred to as fourth estate in recognition of that power.”
[Extracted and Modified from GINA]
And this surprising, why? I am a proud Guyanese, but it is truly disgusting, the news that comes across to us in other parts of the world. The government is doing absolutely nothing to enhance the lives of those left behind, they are living lives separate from the citizens, the same citizens who they depend on to put them in Office. We see that in the US, but Guyana, I never expected it, at least not on such a large scale. You have people waiting on pension payouts since 1991, cops who are underpaid, and because of this they have become corrupt. some of them have resorted to terrorizing citizens, a relative of mine was subjected to this experience. You cannot file a complaint with them and get results, unless you have a few thousand in your hand to pass “under the table.” Murders, robberies were never so prevalent, recently added to this menagerie, suicides, and random shootings. One of the most despicable, is the cop who shot the 15 year old in his mouth. There are times the media do exaggerate, but you must admit, weren’t for the media, we would be left in the dark.
please Cde. Minister, the private media is loved and followed by the majority and would not like to see them adopting the path of GINA/NCN. would it not have been better if the state media should become professional. NCN being the ‘STATE’ reporting organ in their 25mins daily newscast is focus in part on Georgetown and Govt news, hardy any mention is made about the other regions