The umbrella Private Sector Commission (PSC) yesterday called on the Guyana Government to restore advertisements to Stabroek News (SN) "without any further delay" arguing that the cut-off struck at the very heart of press freedom.
In a statement following the failure of a regional media team to resolve the six-month-old controversy, the PSC said it "wished to express its profound disappointment at the continuing action by government to withhold advertisements" from SN "which action has been extended further to over 20 state agencies".
It also noted that the reasons advanced by the government for the cut-off of advertising to SN i.e. circulation statistics and economic considerations are viewed with skepticism by a wide cross-section of the population.
"Stabroek News is a widely read and respected newspaper which was in the forefront in the struggle for the return of democracy and civil liberties to Guyana. Many Guya-nese both home and abroad, daily look forward to this popular newspaper for news and information on a wide range of issues. By the withdrawal of advertisements from this newspaper, citizens are denied the right to view important government notices in a paper of their choice", the PSC said.
The private sector body added that the withholding of advertisements from SN strikes at the very heart of press freedom and the respect for freedom of expression which SN "promotes through its editorials and its letter columns which are subscribed to by Guyanese of every persuasion".
It was also pointed out by the PSC that the government's action was in direct contravention of the Declaration of Chapultepec on press freedom and this perceived punitive action by the government would put Guyana in an embarrassing situation. The PSC therefore called on the government to restore advertisements without delay.
The PSC statement was only released yesterday but a draft had been in circulation on Thursday. It appears that a copy of the draft ended up with the Government Infor-mation Agency (GINA) which treated it as the final statement and issued a rebuttal of it which appeared in the state-owned Guyana Chronicle (GC) yesterday. The GINA release was not sent to Stabroek News. In the GC news item, GINA referred to parts of the draft PSC release which were cut from the final statement issued by the PSC. The draft, according to sources, included a call by the PSC for the entire business community to increase its support to Stabroek News to ensure that the newspaper remains independent and commercially viable. The draft statement, according to the GC report, also said that the cessation of ads was perceived to be as a result of government's sensitivity to Stabroek News' independent editorial decisions.
Sources told Stabroek News that a minister of government who previously held a senior position in the private sector had gotten hold of the draft and had intervened with members of the private sector in an effort to have parts of it watered down.
The government ceased advertising through GINA with Stabroek News in November of last year but without providing any notification. Repeated calls by Stabroek News Advertising Manager Patricia Cumbermack to ascertain from then Acting Head of GINA, Dr Prem Misir the reason for this failed as Dr Misir did not return calls. On January 3rd, Misir was formally written to by Stabroek News Editor in Chief David de Caires on the matter but he did not reply. After eliciting no satisfactory response on the ads cut-off SN issued a press release on January 15 this year charging that the move had been orchestrated within the Office of the President and was tantamount to an assault on press freedom. Later that evening GINA issued a response which said that the withdrawal of ads from SN was a commercial decision based on circulation and the public's response to newspapers. GINA has not provided any information since January 15 to substantiate its contention that circulation figures led to its placing of ads only with the state-owned Guyana Chronicle and the Kaieteur News. Stabroek News has since suggested that the paid circulation of the newspapers be audited by a credible firm and that this be used as the basis for the distribution of ads.
Following the cut-off of the GINA ads, there was an outpouring of criticism of the government's stance from the Guyana Human Rights Asso-ciation, the Guyana Trades Union Congress, political parties, letter writers, private sector bodies such as the Guyana Manufacturers' and Services Association and the chambers of commerce, media organizations and newspapers throughout the region including the Jamaica Gleaner, the Barbados Nation, the Trinidad Express and the Trinidad Guardian.
In a bid to resolve the crisis, a delegation of four regional media representatives met with President Bharrat Jagdeo in St Vincent and the Grenadines in February to discuss the cessation of advertising. The delegation offered an initiative to end the controversy which included SN ending its publishing of a banner on the front page of the newspaper each day charging that the government was misusing taxpayers' money to suppress the newspaper and the delegation creating a model for advertising distribution. The President did not respond to the offer of an ad distribution mechanism and on May 8 the regional team declared that it had failed to resolve the dispute.
The team said in a statement that the "current unfair and undesirable situation of a total withdrawal of advertisements to the Stabroek News could objectively be viewed by independent observers as having the effect of subverting the commercial viability of the newspaper, and by extension, resulting in a press freedom problem".
Having been disappointed by the government's failure to take up the offer of help for devising a system for the distribution of ads, the regional team said it looked forward to an "urgent announcement" by President Jagdeo on the renewal of government and state corporation advertising.
Stabroek News Editor Anand Persaud yesterday thanked the Private Sector Commission for its statement on the ads withdrawal and said the newspaper intended to continue the fight for the restoration of ads. He said that in the six months that the ads had been withdrawn the government had failed to show that the move was anything but a naked attack on the freedom of the press and a bid to intimidate the newspaper. Persaud said the newspaper was considering its options and was in the process of consulting its media colleagues.