Two senior cabinet ministers stated Thursday that the People's Partnership government is committed to freedom of the media.
Reporters at the post cabinet media briefing asked Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner for his views on the matter, which has become an issue following accusations by staff at the state-owned Caribbean News Media Group (CNMG).
Warner was emphatic that under the leadership of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar media freedom would always be protected.
"In fact, we are where we are because of freedom of the press, and we shall be the last persons to affect that in any way. And if, at times, the press gives us a beating or a licking, we must take it and see where we have gone wrong and correct it," he said.
Warner said he could speak on behalf of the ministers who were at the media briefing and his cabinet colleagues in stating that the government would never try to tell journalists how to do their work.
"You can have our collective word on that. Now and forever," he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan, who chaired the media briefing agreed. He said ministers would confirm that the government would not subscribe to interference in the media in any form or fashion.
He said he is not aware of any directive given to CNMG that could suggest political interference. To illustrate his point, the minister suggested that the media do a content analysis which he said would show that the private media and CNMG usually have the same stories.
"You see the same thing; the Opposition is allowed time, people speak out about their problems in the community, members of Government speak out, there is a talk show... and members of the Government are questioned like anybody else," he said.
Rambachan was emphatic that the Kamla administration considers freedom of the media sacred.
"The right of the journalist is very important because the journalist represents the voice of the citizen and, very often, represent citizens of this country who, very often, cannot speak for themselves or, for reasons, would not want to speak out," Rambachan said.
He added, "We must protect those citizens by allowing them to speak to the media and let the media represent their views as freely, as truthfully, as honestly as possible. What we expect on the other hand is that the journalists would be responsible and they would be fair, so that the integrity of journalism would be upheld and maintained in the society," he said.
On Tuesday, a letter written by CNMG newsroom staff dated March 31, 2011 was circulated to other media, highlighting incidents in the newsroom and about alleged interventions by senior management in the running of the newsroom.
Some of their complaints included dropping stories from the morning newscasts that had run in the major news the night before, having reports included in the news prepared by a government communications officer travelling with the Prime Minister on overseas assignments and being asked to run interviews conducted by the CEO, who is a respected journalist with more than 40 years standing in the business.
One complaint was that a journalist was asked the anchor a live broadcast of the formal launch by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the Debe campus of the University of the West Indies on February 24, 2011, which the letter called a "paid political broadcast".
The journalists said they did not wish to be associated with such commercial broadcasts because it would damage their professionalism and credibility.
The Prime Minister has stated on several occasions that she considers media freedom to be critically important in a free and democratic society. And she has pledged to always protect press freedom because she considers the media to the "guardians of democracy".
Read related story: Worth repeating: Kamla pledges to defend of media freedom
Reporters at the post cabinet media briefing asked Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner for his views on the matter, which has become an issue following accusations by staff at the state-owned Caribbean News Media Group (CNMG).
Warner was emphatic that under the leadership of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar media freedom would always be protected.
"In fact, we are where we are because of freedom of the press, and we shall be the last persons to affect that in any way. And if, at times, the press gives us a beating or a licking, we must take it and see where we have gone wrong and correct it," he said.
Warner said he could speak on behalf of the ministers who were at the media briefing and his cabinet colleagues in stating that the government would never try to tell journalists how to do their work.
"You can have our collective word on that. Now and forever," he said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan, who chaired the media briefing agreed. He said ministers would confirm that the government would not subscribe to interference in the media in any form or fashion.
He said he is not aware of any directive given to CNMG that could suggest political interference. To illustrate his point, the minister suggested that the media do a content analysis which he said would show that the private media and CNMG usually have the same stories.
"You see the same thing; the Opposition is allowed time, people speak out about their problems in the community, members of Government speak out, there is a talk show... and members of the Government are questioned like anybody else," he said.
Rambachan was emphatic that the Kamla administration considers freedom of the media sacred.
"The right of the journalist is very important because the journalist represents the voice of the citizen and, very often, represent citizens of this country who, very often, cannot speak for themselves or, for reasons, would not want to speak out," Rambachan said.
He added, "We must protect those citizens by allowing them to speak to the media and let the media represent their views as freely, as truthfully, as honestly as possible. What we expect on the other hand is that the journalists would be responsible and they would be fair, so that the integrity of journalism would be upheld and maintained in the society," he said.
On Tuesday, a letter written by CNMG newsroom staff dated March 31, 2011 was circulated to other media, highlighting incidents in the newsroom and about alleged interventions by senior management in the running of the newsroom.
Some of their complaints included dropping stories from the morning newscasts that had run in the major news the night before, having reports included in the news prepared by a government communications officer travelling with the Prime Minister on overseas assignments and being asked to run interviews conducted by the CEO, who is a respected journalist with more than 40 years standing in the business.
One complaint was that a journalist was asked the anchor a live broadcast of the formal launch by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of the Debe campus of the University of the West Indies on February 24, 2011, which the letter called a "paid political broadcast".
The journalists said they did not wish to be associated with such commercial broadcasts because it would damage their professionalism and credibility.
The Prime Minister has stated on several occasions that she considers media freedom to be critically important in a free and democratic society. And she has pledged to always protect press freedom because she considers the media to the "guardians of democracy".
Read related story: Worth repeating: Kamla pledges to defend of media freedom
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