President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said the axing of GINA ads to Stabroek News was purely a business decision made by the agency and that the government would advertise in two of the country's dailies - the state-owned Chronicle, the privately-owned newspaper, the Kaieteur News, and some newspapers that are published once a week.
At a press briefing he held at the Office of the President yesterday to announce a visit to Russia he said that if the government was going to advertise in one private daily it was going "to look at how and where best the money would be well spent."
Stating that the withdrawal of ads "was not done at my level" and reiterating much of the Government Information Agency's (GINA) position, he said that Stabroek News and the Guyana Human Rights Association did not raise the issue of a violation of freedom of the press when Kaieteur News, as a fledgling newspaper, did not receive many ads from the government.
"I didn't see any statements from abroad. What has happened is that the Kaieteur News has a larger circulation, a significantly larger circulation so the government advertises where it gets greater value for its money," he said.
Jagdeo said he expects public officers to make these determinations if they are managing state resources as they should maximise "our money. If they are not making those kinds of decisions they should not be leading their businesses."
Using the example of "a private company being run by a Chief Executive Officer, which is akin to a Permanent Secretary in a ministry" he said that decisions of marketing to get the best deals have to be made at the level of the CEO.
Stating that he saw a bunch of bandwagoners jumping on the issue which was another way of criticising the government, Jagdeo said, "We are going to respond to some of them. Some are so biased they are not going to listen to the other side because they are friends and families' organisations."
He said he saw a lot of people without facts jumping on the bandwagon. "They have become part of the herd mentality and Stabroek News has been working that herd but not of course giving a balanced picture."
He declared that, "My permanent secretary is going to take legal action against some of these people who have tainted him." His reference was to Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Dr Nanda Gopaul, who Stabroek News contends issued the instruction to GINA to withdraw ministry ads from the newspaper.
Stating also that the government has not withdrawn ads from the private sector but was placing its ads in the largest private sector newspaper at this time, he said "You check around the world today where they get the biggest bang for their money. That's what we are doing."
Asked for the basis of the government's conclusion on the circulation of the three dailies, Jagdeo said that the government looks at the numbers of newspapers printed by the Stabroek News and the Kaieteur News. "We have noted that the Stabroek News does not do their audit anymore. Stabroek News does not print its audited circulation anymore. We look at the numbers printed. We know how much Stabroek News print and how much Kaieteur News print. We noticed that the Stabroek News stopped putting their audited circulation figures on the front page like when it was the number one."
Pointing to what he described as the perverse logic in the issue, he said that "If we advertise with Stabroek News then we are respecting freedom of expression. If we take back some of the ads that Kaieteur News is getting and advertise in the Stabroek News then we are respecting freedom of expression in this country. That is the logic of it. Can you understand this? Once you advertise with a particular entity you ensure freedom of expression, once you don't advertise with this particular entity in spite of its dwindling circulation you don't respect freedom of expression. You need to spend taxpayers' money to preserve freedom of expression. We have enough freedom of expression in this country. You look at the television, newspaper. You don't have this government threatening anyone."
He said it was a fallacy that Stabroek News would say that he was critical of the newspaper. "That is not true," he said adding that he criticises a lot of people for a lot of things.
Saying that Stabroek News was "clouding the issue using their extraneous argument" and that only warped minds could make the issue one of freedom of the press, he maintained that GINA's decision was "a pure money" (decision). Stabroek News could criticize as much as it wants. You are not going to hear the government is going to revoke licence or cut newsprint or call the editor and say don't do this or threaten them. That is not our business. You can criticise. You can have your independent position. This is a money matter."
In a response last evening, Stabroek News Editor Anand Persaud said that the President's argument was unconvincing. Persaud said if President Jagdeo was positing that circulation was the determining factor in the placement of the ads he had to have a solid basis for pronouncing definitively on the circulation figures of the three daily newspapers. As of now, Persaud said that the President has provided no evidence of this and appears to have relied on hearsay and unreliable information. Persaud said whether Stabroek News published its circulation figure or not was beside the point. The Editor said that Stabroek News' circulation figures are audited by a reputable firm of chartered accountants and can be published at any time. Persaud said it was incumbent upon the President and GINA to obtain credible, verifiable information before embarking on declarations on how taxpayers' money would be spent. Persaud added that the President seemed to be according special treatment to the state newspaper by referring to the placement of advertisements in one private newspaper and the state newspaper. The Editor said this would be discriminatory behaviour and would fly in the face of the President's championing yesterday of the concept of the "biggest bang" for state money. Persaud also said that the President would be hard-pressed to provide a credible explanation for why GINA ads were placed in some weekly newspapers like the Mirror - a publication closely aligned to the ruling party.
The Editor said the President's explanation yesterday has done nothing to dissuade Stabroek News from the view that the cessation of ads was politically motivated and done out of pure vindictiveness.
Since, November 2006, the Stabroek News noted a reduction in ministries advertisements and sought a reaction from the acting head of GINA, Dr Prem Misir but no reasons were forthcoming until Stabroek News issued a press release earlier this month and sought a comment, which through Dr Gopaul's intervention, was eventually released by GINA.
Stabroek News Editor-in-Chief David de Caires has rejected claims that the withdrawal of the ads was for commercial reasons and argued that it was politically motivated to punish the Stabroek News for its views and reportage. Persaud has also said there was a clear link between the decision and the series of virulent attacks on the newspaper during the election campaign by President Jagdeo.
A number of organizations here and international media bodies have condemned the stopping of ads as an attack on press freedom. Some have also said that the move is redolent of the worst practices of the Burnham dictatorship.