Rejecting State Control of the Media

With the recently amended Broadcasting Act, television and radio stations will be forced to provide free air time to the Government of Guyana. TV stations will subsequently incur an annual loss of at least M (at approximately 45k/hour/day).
Those who cannot comply will be crushed by heavy penalties ranging from fines of up to GY million and 1 year imprisonment, cobbled with the confiscation of all equipment (Amendment Section 4).
Those who feel that the content submitted to be aired do not fit the criteria of a “Public Service Programme” are left a mere twenty-four hours to contest, but will be forced nevertheless to air it, whether in exchange of a fee or not. This therefore means that license holders have no say in the type of content aired, and must subsequently suffer the Government’s violation of their press freedom. Curiously, the amended Bill is vague in its description of what a “Public Service Programme” is, except to say that it is one “produced for the purpose of informing and educating the public, and promoting policies and activities of the Government that benefit the public as a whole” (Section 2). However, the Amendment seems more keen on dictating how TV and radio stations dispose of their air time, by giving the Government full rights to review and adjust daily schedules (Part 2 of Bill). This means that in addition to imposing a substantial financial loss on licenses holders, Government also reserves to right to intrude in the internal management of private companies, while engaging in unfair competition with other entities seeking to reserve air-time. (Ironically, the Government caused the catastrophic decimation of the rice sector in 2015, on the basis that the State must not intervene in the private sector).
As a result, we’re looking not only at the undermining of press freedom, but also at the encouragement of bad market practices as well as dictatorial procedures geared towards increase State control over private companies.
By now it is public knowledge that the Government of Guyana has little regard for the Law if the Law doesn’t complement its agenda. President Granger has enforced this belief in his recent rejection of Chief Justice George-Wiltshire’s ruling on the GECOM issue, by bluntly stating that the matter would be dealt with based on his personal “perception” of the Constitution and not its actual legal interpretation. It is therefore unsurprising that such a scurrilous amendment be allowed for adoption in the Parliament of Guyana without the consultation of stakeholders, in particular TV and radio licenses holders.
This attack on one of the pillars of democracy – press freedom and freedom of expression – is a double-edged sword which seeks to intimidate the private sector while simultaneously feeding the nation propaganda in guise of programmes claimed to “benefit the public as a whole”. Who determines what programmes are beneficial to the nation when the Coalition Government has eliminated national consultations, inclusivity, majority consensus and the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from its policy-making?
Perhaps, in light of its declining popularity due to austere economic measures and contractionary fiscal policies, discriminatory practices and party paramountcy encouraged by the leading Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR), this move is the Coalition’s desperate attempt to reinforce its communication strategy with hopes of reviving public trust in its leadership. However, it has only succeeded in amplifying the growing fear of Guyana regressing to an era of dictatorial rule, while embarrassing Guyanese by provoking the ire of the international community.
Through this prohibitive Amendment, the Government is set out to control the press, and President Granger’s calculated appearances in the media coupled with his reticence to give open press conferences, leads us to believe that he might very well assent this Bill unless relentless pressure convinces him to do otherwise.
Until such time, this remains a violation of press freedom which reeks of authoritarianism and suggests that the democratic process of nation-building has been interrupted by the regime.
It is the responsibility of all Guyanese, diaspora, private sector and civil society included, to act against the oppression of press freedom in Guyana. The media must continue to act as a watchdog of the Government, and solicit the solidarity of the international community’s. We must reject State control of the Media in Guyana; the era of dictatorship must remain behind us.