The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) is still awaiting a response from the Office of the President on its request to meet President Bharrat Jagdeo on the issue of government's withdrawal of ministry advertisements from the Stabroek News.
General Secretary of the ACM Wesley Gibbings yesterday told Stabroek News that the ACM was awaiting a response from the Office of the President but in the interim was speaking with regional publishers and broadcasters.
In a letter dated January 24 and delivered the day after to President Jagdeo's office, the ACM President Dale Enoch requested an early audience with the President to discuss in greater detail government's withdrawal of ministries' advertisements from this newspaper.
Jagdeo, who is currently out of the country told the local media prior to his departure that the axing of Government Information Agency (GINA) ads to Stabroek News was purely a business decision by the agency and that the government would advertise in two dailies - the state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the privately-owned Kaieteur News and some newspapers published at weekends.
However, the editors of the Stabroek News have maintained that the withdrawal was politically motivated due to the newspaper's views.
The regional body said based on its information gathered, the ACM "believes the situation involving the Stabroek News would constitute, prima facie, an attempt to impose a regime of self-censorship on the newspaper and to stifle free expression."
The ACM has condemned GINA's action and has called for a reversal of the decision.
Stabroek News Editor Anand Persaud last night said he was surprised that there had not yet been a response from the President's office on the request for a meeting. He said that the President's office would be able to bolster its case if it were able to get the Government Information Agency and its Acting Head Dr Prem Misir to explain exactly how they arrived at the notion that there was "huge" feedback to GINA ads in the Kaieteur News and the Guyana Chronicle. Persaud said that GINA and Dr Misir also had to provide evidence to substantiate their argument that ministry ads are now being placed on the basis of the highest circulation figure among private newspapers. Persaud added that if this were indeed so GINA would not be able to find a rational explanation for the placement of ads in the Mirror newspaper.
The Editor said that if the government and GINA did not provide this information the public could properly draw the conclusion that important government decisions are being made in a haphazard way and without any foundation.
Persaud said Stabroek News remains firmly of the view that the ads cut-off was a political decision handed down to GINA by the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Dr Nanda K Gopaul. Persaud pointed out that on the day Stabroek News issued a press release condemning the cut-off Dr Gopaul was contacted by Stabroek News for a comment and did not offer one. He made no attempt to deny the statement that he had ordered the cut-off but referred the reporter to Dr Misir. The Editor added that as a result of the decision to axe ads to Stabroek News the PPP/Civic government has seriously damaged its previously good record on press freedom.
The ACM is an organisation of journalists and media worker associations spanning the Caribbean Basin and established in Bridgetown, Barbados on November 28, 2001.