Scholarships for journalists, media personnel
President Dr. Irfaan Ali and President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Nazima Raghubir, having an intense conversation during
the Presidential Media Brunch, held at State House, Georgetown, on Sunday (Latchman Singh photo)
President Dr. Irfaan Ali and President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Nazima Raghubir, having an intense conversation during the Presidential Media Brunch, held at State House, Georgetown, on Sunday (Latchman Singh photo)

— President underscores value of professional media corp

SCHOLARSHIP opportunities for specialisation in mass communication, journalism and marketing will be available for reporters and other media personnel, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali announced on Sunday. The President made the announcement during his presentation at the Annual Media Brunch held at State House.
The media, he noted, plays an important role in development and both the media and government have a common agenda to see a better country for all of its citizens. With this in mind, he said the scholarships for media representatives will help in building a professional media corp.
The local media corp, the President said, will be actively engaged in the developmental agenda of the government.
“We will be working to ensure that the media is engaged not just from their desks but from where development actually takes place and these are the things that I will support, because it is important that the media understand where the country is going and the development shifts that are taking place,” the President said.
He also said that post-cabinet press briefings will resume and his government will continue to be accessible to members of the media. The media, he said, can play a vital role in building a cohesive Guyana.

President Irfaan Ali interacts with members of the media

“But important to us all is Guyana, all of us are concerned about Guyana and whilst we exercise the freedom that we have, it is important that we identify a few key areas that are important to Guyana and Guyanese in which all of us must find a common ground in promoting, and the media play an extremely critical role in promoting national unity, how will we together, build a platform that erases the level of hate sometimes that we see on social media, that all of us speak out against so we all have a common agenda against those who try to divide our society, those who try to push hate in our society,” said President Ali. In recognising the work of the media, he commended local journalists for their coverage during the recent five-month long election and the role they played in preserving democracy. President of the Guyana Press Association (GPA), Nazima

President, Dr. Irfaan Ali addressing reporters, editors and media personnel at the media brunch held at State House on Sunday (Office of the President photo)

Raghubir, who also addressed the gathering, acknowledged that while there have been some challenges, the media must serve its role in providing impartial and factual information on issues that affect the lives of Guyanese.
She called on health officials to have more frequent interactions with the media, contending that this will allow for timely and accurate coverage of the pandemic that continues to affect the life of all Guyanese.

The GPA, Raghubir said, is also committed to lifting the standard of journalism in Guyana.
“The Guyana Press Association is always aiming to ensure that we set a high standard for the media in this country. This is the reason we have rigid training sessions annually. While most of our training this year has been held virtually, we have been able to touch on a number of key areas, like continued training on reporting on sexual offences, understanding and reporting on the judicial system. Most recently with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we did a sensitisation on the Guyana-Venezuela boarder controversy,” she noted.
The GPA President also called on the government to facilitate field trips for the media to some of the border locations.
“This, we believe, will provide the media with a better understanding of some of these locations we often report on. We hope that this request would be able to facilitate at least four field trips so all the media houses would be able to have a chance to see and tell stories otherwise lost,” she said.

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