THE struggle of the ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is an uneasy one against not only the political opposition, but also against ‘hostile’ sections of the media.Former president and PPP/C executive, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, made the charge yesterday, even as he appealed to members of the media corps to view issues with a clearer perspective, rather than through the lens of preconceived agendas.

“We are fighting two opponents now, the Opposition, the combined opposition, and elements of the media,” he said at a news conference yesterday.
Dr Jagdeo, less scathing in his review than in previous years, referred to the Kaieteur News, a local daily, and INews online news site, as the most recent transgressors in his view.
He said, “Take for example the INews recently. INews carried a report about ‘massive opposition women’s rally’….it had not happened as yet, it was to take place the same night, but already the headline was ‘massive opposition rally’. Then I looked at the same media house reporting our rally (at Anna Regina) speaking about hundreds. Clearly this cannot be accurate…I just singled out one, but there are several others.
“Today’s (yesterday’s) newspaper, the Kaieteur News said that I said that there is a $40M loss in the sugar industry; no it is not a $40M loss. It is $40M reduction in revenue because of cuts in the sugar prices. And I did not say that we were producing 900,000 tonnes of sugar and now we are down to 600,000 tonnes….I was speaking about the rice industry, not sugar and what I said was that it has moved from 90,000 tonnes to over 600,000 tonnes…there is a big difference…totally wrong.”
According to him, such inaccuracies are not novel. “I suspect that they will continue doing this. They have done this in so many other cases,” Dr Jagdeo lamented.
The former president surmised that having negatives and perceptions of negativity accentuated in sections of the media, with influences from the political opposition is undoubtedly an interlinked struggle.
“We are fighting two campaigns…fortunately the truth will prevail,” the former president posited. (Vanessa Narine)