One newspaper has had to pay-up for false stories peddled against prominent citizens, but, by-and-large, most of its lies go unpunished. On October 27, 2021, UG demanded that that newspaper retract a story accusing UG of spending $1.5B on maintenance for six months. UG explained that the sum was for its entire operations, including salaries, etc. In order to create drama, the newspaper misrepresented the facts. On June 2, three senior reporters of that newspaper revealed that they had to resign because the owner of the newspaper had forced them to tell stories based on inaccuracies and falsehoods about the oil and gas industry. They were forced to listen to the fulminations of the owner, and write stories as if those unhinged fulminations were stories of hard facts, but the reporters refused to compromise their integrity.
The Natural Resource Fund (NRF) requires approval from Parliament before funds are withdrawn. On February 10, 2022, this same newspaper carried a story that the Government had illegally withdrawn $126B from the NRF, and had submitted, after the fact, a motion for parliamentary approval to cover its tracks. They knew they were misrepresenting the facts; the truth is that the Government, in its Budget 2022, had provided for a sum of $126B to come from the NRF to support budgetary expenditures. The motion was simply to seek approval from Parliament to withdraw the sum of $126B, but readers of the said story would be under the impression that the total sum of $126B had already been illegally withdrawn.
The above are three examples of a newspaper that builds its reporting on dishonesty, twisting words and facts to support its tactics of poisoning the minds of citizens with false stories, so that it can nurture hatred for Government, certain agencies, and certain people.
Its one constant in its unhinged anti-government attacks is VP Bharrat Jagdeo. Really, VP Bharrat Jagdeo is a true nightmare for the owner of this newspaper and a handful of commentators whom the newspaper utilises with its daily dose of hate-filled fulminations.
One newspaper repeats the same queries relating to oil and gas at every press conference the General Secretary of the PPP conducts every Thursday. With the patience of a saint, the GS of the PPP, VP Bharrat Jagdeo, has never refused to answer any of the questions, even if he prefaces his answers sometimes with the reminder that the questions were asked and answered before. This newspaper then had the temerity to carry a full-page feature to condemn the GS for repeating the same thing week after week.
Every week it asks the VP if the Government would renegotiate the EXXON PSA.
Before Elections 2020, the PPP stated unequivocally that it would not renegotiate. The VP has been conducting press conferences every Thursday since August 2020, just as he had done before Elections 2020, except for a small number of Thursdays because of holidays and other special occasions. The questions have been asked, almost without any interruption, every Thursday, and even at other times. This particular newspaper is like a ferret, asking the questions every week so that it could use certain words in the answer given by the VP to twist the story, and then accuse the VP of repeating the same thing over and over.
Two Sundays ago, this newspaper, which is owned by the same owner who has a TV station, carried a huge blazing headline that was totally false. The headline stated that the Government was paid $75M between December 2022 and January 2024. The Government rebuffed the newspaper, and provided the newspaper, along with the total media community and the citizens of Guyana, with the answer that it paid only about $16.5M, some 78% less than the newspaper had reported. The newspaper, instead of correcting the wrong information, indicated in its follow-up story that the Government was lying unless the Government provided it with all documents to prove the accuracy of what the Government was saying. Did the newspaper provide evidence for its blazing headline that the Government paid $75M? It expects citizens to accept its story without any evidence, based on mere hearsay, but thinks that citizens cannot trust the Government with information the Government provides. The Auditor General will eventually verify that the Government was telling the truth. The PAC can also ask for the evidence.
This newspaper has carried stories and letters that give the impression that the boat that sank off the shores of Tobago, leaking oil, was a boat supplying oil to GPL, and was either owned by, or contracted by, a Guyanese businessman. After the Prime Minister rejected this story and it became clear that this newspaper was facing a massive libel case, it did a two-line retraction of the story.
Every week, in fact, VP Bharrat Jagdeo has to refute multiple headlines and stories. This newspaper twists the words of the President, the VP, other cabinet members and Government officials to misinform people.
Citizens in Guyana today are at the mercy of certain sections of the press, which bombard them with false, misleading stories; with misrepresentations and misinterpretations that twist people’s words and actions.
Post-independence, various machinations and intimidations were used by the PNC Government to restrict publication of the Mirror and other newspapers, while journalists were constantly living with fear. Some, like Ricky Singh, left their country because of threats on their lives. On the contrary, the present period is one in which freedom of the press is practised without any moral or legal restriction. But while the Government honours the Constitution and permits the media to practise without restriction, sections of this very media subject citizens to the vilest of lies, fabrications and misinformation.
While we watch in disbelieve the attacks against freedom of the press, as the Gaza war has killed more reporters than any other war in history, the media in Guyana is attacking freedom and democracy by bombarding citizens with lies every day.
