A few days ago, the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, claimed that the Guyana National Broadcast Authority (GNBA) is targeting anti-Government broadcasting stations, both television and radio. He further accused the GNBA of engaging in censorship and of terrorising broadcast entities it perceives as being unsympathetic towards the Government.
Mr Jagdeo’s position is similar to that of broadcasters who have been cited for broadcast infractions by the regulatory body. Some have lamented a draconian approach that directly infringes on freedom of expression and the obligation to inform and educate viewers and listeners alike. This in no way suggests a right to broadcast libellous, discriminatory or inciting content. Broadcasters in question are well aware of this, and endeavour to abide by the GNBA’s broadcast guidelines.
However, aspects of the said guidelines are viewed as deliberate measures to aid in the enforcement of censorship.
Mr. Jagdeo also claimed that some station managers are questioned as to why they cannot find positive things to say about the Government.
In that context, one can presume that particular question reportedly emanated from officials of the GNBA. If that were the case, then it’s extremely worrying, since it suggests that the GNBA is allegedly using its authority to force the broadcast of content favourable to the Government.
If such actions are meted out to broadcasters and others with a responsibility to inform, it’s become a direct assault on freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Fear is thereby directly infused. Therein lies danger, since it becomes indicative of the Government seemingly using arms of the state to silence opposing views.
In August of 1950, former US President Harry S. Truman, in a special Message to the Congress on the Internal Security of the United States, said, “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens, and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”
President Truman clearly captures the inherit dangers of government’s actions to muzzle the opposition. He may have had foresight too, for during the period 1964-1992, the then People’s National Congress (PNC) government unleashed severe measures to stifle the then Opposition and others who opposed it. In the process, the importation of newsprint for Opposition-run presses was banned, among other things.
Some who raised their voices against the regime were beaten and/or incarcerated. Jesuit priest Father Bernard Darke was killed by a gang while photographing a demonstration against the PNC in 1979 in Georgetown. The gang allegedly was affiliated to the said PNC dictatorial government, which was brutal in its crackdown on those who dissented.
That’s the terror that President Truman alluded to, and the fear it precipitates into the mindsets of the citizenry. In Guyana, that was a few decades ago, and with the rebirth of democracy in 1992 under the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) Government, one would have felt that dark and shameful past was laid to rest. Unfortunately, fears of a growing dictatorship are now being rekindled, allegedly aided by actions of the GNBA, as claimed.
Noteworthy, the Broadcast Act was amended by the current APNU/AFC government, of which the PNC is the dominant party. One aspect is that broadcasters are mandated to provide one hour of broadcast time to facilitate Government programing under the guise of public service announcements.
In principle, no broadcaster is against airing of pertinent national messages that warn of natural disasters or outbreak of diseases, or any other necessary information. However, they oppose the imposition of that hour for the broadcast of Government propaganda, and that the choice of the timing can be dictated by the Authority.
When that is taken into consideration, along with the claim of some station managers, of allegedly being asked to broadcast content favourable to the Government, it appears that the GNBA is seemingly becoming a conduit for Government’s infringements on freedom of expression. Given that development, the GNBA’s discharging of its mandate in a consistent, professional and fair manner has unavoidably been questioned.
The relevance of the question is within the context of the content of the state media broadcast arms. Aggrieved broadcasters, who have been cited for various infractions, are hard-pressed to see any consistency, given some of what is being broadcast on the state media and the apparent free rein Government officials have through it.
With that in mind, Mr Jagdeo’s claims of the GNBA’s attempts to censor some broadcast stations drives home that inherit fear, as some sections of the media are reportedly in the process of being muzzled.
The GNBA has denied the claims, while stating it has recorded some 150 broadcast infractions for the year so far. In addition, it would have also seized nine broadcast frequencies from three entities, including from a radio station owned and operated by the PPP. These, especially the latter, make it extremely difficult to dismiss the claims of censorship, and possibly the terrorising of broadcast entities.
Relevance may be found in a quote from Henry Louis Gates Jr, “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” More voices may therefore need to be heard.
