Home Letters Can we watch TV and read news without interference and new unfair...
Dear Editor,
I read about the outreaches by the sitting politicians, but nothing about the loss of confidence which is affecting the business sector, which adds to an already bad environment for private businesses.
The impact is being felt by almost every household. We all know that laws to address money-laundering means certain controls are in place. Many can tell about the new difficulties to do simple transactions; it feels soul-destroying at times. The officials, including the Bank of Guyana officials, ought to monitor and ensure that overzealousness in dealing with people does not have the chilling effect of stalling the economy and adding to people’s misery.
The policies of the Government are doing very little to address the unfair competition which exists between the private and public sectors. The public sector, also, is represented by those officials and their families who benefit from procurement loopholes. See all the recent news about the minister’s husband and the other minister’s company, Videomega. This is a company in the media business, which must be one of the few not affected by unfair competition between the public and private sectors.
How the public sector is unfairly benefiting is online. One can read about parliamentary discussions on the state-owned media operation receiving massive subvention in millions of dollars, yet it competes with private media – including print, TV, radio, online – for advertisements.
Despite slashing the budget of the National Communications Network (NCN) Incorporated and the Government Information Agency (GINA) to $1 while in Opposition, the APNU/AFC Government, in the 2016 National Budget, allocated and subsequently approved a whopping $170 million for NCN and $150 million for GINA, reflecting a more-than-$50 million increase in their subventions over last year’s allocations.
://www.inewsguyana.com/govt-approves-320m-for-gina-and-ncn-despite-reducing-their-allocations-to-1-under-previous-administration/
The question of conflict of interest and undue influence should also be asked in a circumstance where a state-owned media, already subsidised by taxpayers, goes after the private market. This is an economic issue, but it has an impact on media freedom, and is affecting media outlets across the board. These economic issues and this unfair competition against the private sector have far-reaching impacts.
The recent broadcasting law, which includes radio, TV and cable operators, is also in the news, wherein we are informed that this law will allow the authorities to criminalise media operators and seize their operations.
We are reading lots of news stories about the broadcasting authority’s efforts to collect its new and very high fees, and very little about dealing fairly with media operators or about the laws which are curbing media freedom. Any day now, one can expect half the stations to disappear if the news stories are to be believed.
Tony Vieira, in a letter in the press, noted that the authority regulating broadcasters has a case at the Appeal Court questioning its legal status.
https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/opinion/letters/10/03/appeal-challenging-legality-of-broadcast-authority-still-to-be-heard/
Is the threat made publicly with this new law — to criminalise media operators and seize their operations — a clever subterfuge to grab the rights of existing media operators? The operators should take note. In the US and Jamaica, when the state wanted to use media broadcasting frequencies held by private media owners, suitable arrangements were made, instead of trying to criminalise operators.
This elephant voice about regulation is followed by silence on the larger issues of media freedom and poor trading opportunities. Some operators have been contacted about covering the now infamous ‘chase them out’ speech by the Opposition Leader; was similar action taken to address the MPs, one of whom shouted, ‘Charrandas gon dead tonight!’ and one who hit him in Parliament when the no-confidence motion was passed? Was any Police action taken so far?
How far can the GPA and other media associations step in for those media entities which fall under the new laws? Is this coercive power to allow for action against them when covering a relevant media issue? https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/news/guyana/04/28/guyana-gains-in-press-freedom-ranking/
I read in the Stabroek News that, ‘The GPA also noted the removal of two columnists from the state-owned Guyana Chronicle, which it said appeared not to have bothered Government and its professed commitment to press freedom and freedom of expression’.
All this is very worrying in the current climate.
Yours truly,
R Singh