Forcing broadcasters to air 1 hour of PSAs “dangerous” – Ramotar

Draft broadcast law

…can lead to curtailing freedom of expression

The new measures in the draft broadcast legislation which now compel local broadcasters to air one hour of free Public Service Announcements (PSAs) each day have been described as a “dangerous” precedent in the Government’s policies towards private media.

Former President Donald Ramotar, who had served as Minister of Information during his term in office, on Tuesday said that including a clause forcing private broadcasters to devote stipulated time for free PSAs was an unnecessary and potentially oppressive move.

“I would say that this is a dangerous sign, a dangerous development because the Government has huge media outlets already,” Ramotar said. “It’s not that they (Government) don’t have media outlets. And this measure is totally unnecessary for them to take.”

Ramotar expressed worry that the measure can, in the long run, be used to curtail free speech. The former President’s concern comes against the backdrop of a provision in the legislation for broadcasters who “arbitrarily refused” to broadcast a PSA without filing a complaint to be deemed by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) to be in breach of their licence.

Under the Broadcasting Act, the GNBA has the power to suspend or revoke any broadcasting licences, providing the licensee was given a reasonable opportunity to defend itself. That is, the law states, unless facilitating such a defence is impractical.

“It is a worrying sign of Government trying to control and the first step in Government trying to control the dissemination of ideas. It is a sign of their tendency of trying to control free speech and it’s getting more and more pronounced since they got into Government,” the former President expressed.

There have been questions about who the Government is consulting with to come up with the legislation. The GNBA is the regulatory body for broadcasters. It has already submitted its advice to Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who is the current Minister of Information, in relation to the legislation.

The Guyana Press Association (GPA), which is considered the foremost representative body of media workers in Guyana, was not consulted about the broadcast legislation being formulated. The Association had thus expressed concern about this.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo had said that the new regulations would be taken to the National Assembly. He had also stated that the regulations would guide the operations of the Authority and the decisions it would make regarding broadcasters.

According to reports in the State media, the new draft legislation being prepared would see broadcast agencies being mandated to broadcast public service programmes for a total of up to one hour daily.

Broadcast agencies will be airing these free programmes at no cost and as requested by the Government between the hours of 06:00h and 22:00h.

It is also stated that the GNBA reserves the right to direct a broadcasting agency to broadcast emergency notices or disaster warnings for any length of time, and regularly during peak or prime advertising periods, depending on the nature of the emergency and having regard to public safety.

According to the draft legislation, a broadcaster has the right to file a complaint with the GNBA within 24 hours of being asked to broadcast a programme free of cost if, in the agency’s judgment, it is not considered a public service broadcast.

The GNBA, according to the draft provisos, “shall investigate and determine a complaint, and issue a ruling that the programme can be reasonably considered a public service broadcast programme, and direct the broadcasting agency to air the programme free of cost”.

Further, the broadcaster can “be granted an interim order to broadcast the announcement as a public service broadcast programme; and where the programme is not so considered, as provided in Section 9 (a) above, the GNBA can order payment of regular programme cost for broadcasting the said programme.”

But there is also a warning: provision is made for sanctions to be levied on any broadcaster the GNBA finds to have “arbitrarily refused” to broadcast a public service broadcast programme without lodging a complaint. The GNBA can, after deliberation, deem that broadcaster is in breach of his/her licence.

GNBA Chairman Leslie Sobers did defend the provision when questioned by Guyana Times. According to Sobers, there was no reason to suggest that when deliberating on these complaints, the GNBA would make judgements with a predisposition to favour the Government.