Ramson engages sports journalists on pressing issues

With reorganisation of sports in mind, recently appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, held a consultancy session with sports journalists on Saturday morning.

Hosted at the Duke Lodge in Kingston, Georgetown with strict COVID-19 protocols in place, the engagement gave the nation’s sports journalists opportunity to share their concerns with respect to the sports component of the junior Ramson’s new portfolio.
The Minister also took time to hear grievances and take suggestions for the way forward regarding sports in Guyana.
Ramson shared a number of his innovative ideas for the ever- evolving sports sector in Guyana, with a large portion of that being the need to commercialise the sector.
“In order for us to be able to change the trajectory for sport, so that it becomes much more monetisable and commercial, we have to be able to give the sponsorship avenues for businesses, both local and foreign; where it’s just not something that they do out of the kindness of their hearts; where it makes commercial sense for them to do that,” Ramson said.
Another idea presented by Ramson was the need to build visibility for sports associations, especially through constant social media engagement.
He noted that another aspect he would like to introduce is the correlation between the parts of his portfolio by linking youth engagement and culture to sports activities.
“Being able to use social media platforms in a very effective way means now that we have the ability to get more eyeballs on our product of sport; so what we’re doing right now, I’ve already engaged the social media teams to start building the online platform,” the Minister of Sport disclosed. “We want to be able to use the Culture Department in an effective way to help draw more eyes to our product,” he shared.
Speaking directly to media operatives, Ramson Jr disclosed that his Ministry would not be one to victimise journalists for their criticisms, as long as criticisms remain constructive. On the other hand, Journalist Rawle Toney, speaking on behalf of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), highlighted a number of concerns, such as the need for sports journalism to be part of the University of Guyana’s communications curriculum; more accessibility between media and the Ministry; and the need for strong correspondences on the National Sports Awards and the Sports Policy.
“But just be fair with your reporting, and we will be fair with you,” the Minister promised. He asserted, “We will take constructive criticism; be very clear about that. There are some people whose skin, they’re soft. My skin is not soft, I play contact sport, so as a result of that, we’re going to never treat you unfairly for constructive criticism, but the key word there is ‘constructive criticism’.”
The Minister of Sport promised more consultations with sports journalists in order to iron out other issues and continue the work on Guyana’s Sports Policy, the draft of which has not been officially perused by journalists.
Ramson Jr also updated that a new Director of Sport would be appointed in the coming weeks, since deliberations are currently ongoing. (Jemima Holmes)