— GNBA urges broadcasters

THE Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) is urging broadcasters to be vigilant during the current high political atmosphere.

At a press conference on Thursday, Chairman of GNBA, Leslie Sobers said the authority is cognisant of the reality, that, during elections period, tensions and emotions are elevated. Thus, it is the responsibility of broadcasters to ensure that the content they broadcast is reflective of the principles and core tenets outlined in the Broadcasting Act of 2011.

“March 2nd will mark the culminating point of elections campaigning for all political parties contesting the general and regional elections. In the run-up political parties are vigorously explaining their policies, while urging the electorate to vote for them. Political parties contesting the elections are broadcasting their ideologies aimed at the country’s development from their points of view. This has been an exciting run-up to the elections and in some cases, the political enthusiasm resulted in certain unsavoury remarks and expostulations,” Sobers said.

He noted that it was expected that political candidates will express themselves and the public must also freely receive these ideas in order to make informed choices. However, his concern was not what the politicians say, but what the broadcasters choose to air.
Sobers said broadcasters should refrain from transmitting messages or aspects of messages that contain inflammatory speech; imbalanced and/or inaccurate voter and other information; information designed to mislead or deceive the electorate; language that promotes discrimination or violence on any grounds, including race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political or other opinions or on any other premise; slanderous and/or libelous statements; and malicious misrepresentation.

Outlining a few guidelines extracted from the Broadcasting Act of 2011, he said that political broadcasts should provide information that would enable the electorate to make informed choices; all paid or free broadcasts in support of political parties or candidates shall be clearly identified before and after the programme; the coverage of political activities shall be objective and impartial; political discussion or debates involving partisan speakers or on behalf of political parties should be clearly labelled as such; race, ethnicity and/or religious beliefs on a basis for denigration of a person’s political affiliation shall not be permitted; controversial or offensive references to opponents shall be avoided; and no political party or affiliate shall be allowed to sponsor any programme other than a political broadcast. Such sponsorship must be in alignment with any other national stipulation/policy on advertisement and sponsorship including GECOM’s.

Notwithstanding the warning to broadcasters, Sobers noted that there were not many recorded cases of infractions during this period. In fact, the few thus far were minor cases.
However, GNBA still wishes to ensure broadcasters remain vigilant as March 2nd is fast approaching.