GINA denies Stabroek News ads placement charges
Guyana Chronicle
January 16, 2007
THE privately-owned Stabroek News yesterday charged that the government had withdrawn advertisements from the newspaper, calling it an attack on press freedom, but the government said its decision has to do with “economics.”
“The issue of placing advertisements for the government pertains to economics and impact maximization of its advertisements. The issue, therefore, has nothing to do with press freedom,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) said in a statement. GINA is the agency which manages government advertisements.
GINA said Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief, Mr. David de Caires and his Stabroek News have no monopoly on acquiring advertisements. The agency also stated that the Stabroek News no longer has the largest circulation, and is not the largest private newspaper in Guyana.
“The basis for the placement of advertisements in the media is linked to the public’s response to such advertisements. Huge responses to our advertisements emanate from Kaieteur News and Guyana Chronicle. And we are constantly seeking to maximize the impact on our advertisements, in the interest of efficiency,” GINA added.
It said that Kaieteur News today is the largest private newspaper in this country and therefore attracts a disproportionately greater number of the government’s advertisements.
“An added advantage with releasing numerous advertisements to Kaieteur News has to with its wider dissemination not only nationally but also internationally within the Guyanese Diaspora in New York city,” GINA said.
It further stated that when Kaieteur News was in its embryonic stage and rarely received government advertisements, Stabroek News never declared on behalf of Kaieteur News that press freedom was violated.
In a press release, de Caires noted that President Bharrat Jagdeo had signed the declaration of Chapultepec, a famous declaration of free press principles adopted by the Inter American Press Association in Mexico City on March 11, 1994.
The newspaper quoted Clause 7 of the declaration, which states that “the granting or withdrawal of government advertising may not be used to reward or punish the media or individual journalists”.
GINA, however, stated that the government “is fully committed to the Declaration of Chapultepec.”
“We believe that freedom of expression is a fundamental right recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Resolution 59 (1) of the United Nations General Assembly, Resolution 104 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as in other international documents. The Guyana Government fully supports and is committed to these Declarations and Conventions on press freedom and freedom of expression,” GINA stated.
Stabroek News claimed that since the beginning of November 2006, its Advertising Manager, Ms. P. Cumbermack, reported a significant reduction in the booking of advertisements from GINA, and was later advised that except for advertisements from the Guyana Revenue Authority dealing with Value Added Tax no other bookings were being received from GINA.
The newspaper claimed that the directive to cut advertisements was issued by Dr. Nanda Gopaul, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President.
The newspaper stated that several efforts were made to contact Dr. Prem Misir, the Director of GINA, to discuss this matter but he did not accept nor return any telephone calls.
On January 3, 2007, it said, de Caires wrote Misir referring to the “cessation of advertisements which had resulted directly from a political directive and stated that this was a direct attack on the newspaper for political reasons and was completely unacceptable.”
Stabroek News said de Caires requested Misir to “urgently review this new discriminatory policy and that you let me have your written assurance that you will not persist with it.”
On January 9, 2007, it said, a reply was received from Ms. Karen Persaud, Advertising Coordinator of the GINA Advertising Unit which referred to the letter and stated that “the issues raised have been acknowledged and have now been presented to the relevant department for review”.
On the 10th January, 2007, de Caires responded saying that this response was “unclear and unsatisfactory”, adding that Stabroek News “must assume it to mean that Dr Gopaul’s directive to cut off all ministry ads from our newspaper has been withdrawn and that we will now receive an appropriate proportion of these advertisements.”
Since that letter was issued, Stabroek News said no ministry advertisements were received from GINA though several have appeared in the other newspapers.
De Caires stated that this decision by the government to withdraw ads constituted an apparent reversal of its policy of respect for freedom of expression and constituted an attack on the free press.
He expressed regret that this government which had when in opposition suffered from restrictions on press freedom had seen it fit to behave in this manner.
Stabroek News said copies of its press release were being sent to all the local media, the Caribbean newspapers and the International Press Institute, the Commonwealth Press Union and the Inter American Press Association, three organizations dedicated to the preservation of press freedom and of which Stabroek News is a member.
GINA stated that its response to the matter was also being disseminated to all the local media, the Caribbean newspapers, the International Press Institute, the Commonwealth Press Union, and the Inter American Press Association and the Guyanese Diaspora.