THE Government Information Agency (GINA) yesterday said it had noted with “grave concern the recent eruption of unsubstantiated criticisms” of its decision to withdraw ‘Ministry Ads’ from the Stabroek News.
“The decision was based on Stabroek News’ poor circulation and limited reach”, the agency said in a statement.
“The baseless criticisms were unfortunately premised on politicisation that is unsupported empirically”, the agency argued.
It added: “What is even more disappointing is the imprudent action by supposedly erudite persons and groups, the most recent of which were the Alliance For Change (AFC) and journalist Rickey Singh.”
GINA said both the AFC as well as Singh “have fallen prey to the urge to embark on a band-wagon which lacks wheels of logic or substantiation.”
According to the agency, Singh and the AFC like their previous allies have repeatedly referred to an ‘attack on press freedom’ as the basis for withdrawal, while falling miserably short of proving a practical nexus between the two.
“As was previous
ly highlighted, GINA like every other government agency is bound by fiscal regulations and therefore is obligated to garner maximum returns from the tax-paying dollars”, the statement said.
It said there has been a notable decline in Stabroek News’ circulation “possibly by virtue of the political bias pervading its content.”
“For some time now, too, Mr. David De Caires and the Stabroek News have enjoyed and preserved a monopoly over State advertisements in face of its declining circulation.
It should be noted that GINA continues to release advertisements to other private media houses.
The Government Information Agency urges Singh to submit founded arguments with a view to reclaiming the level of repute with which he was once classified”, the agency said.