— gov’t committed to professional development of media workers, says Minister McCoy
— GPA salutes all media workers, particularly journalists and editors who toil beyond hours to bring the news to the public

GOVERNMENT’S principles and commitment will remain steadfast, even as it expects that the Guyanese media fraternity to do likewise and recommit to raising the bar of professionalism and ethics with due regard to the ‘public good’ that information should serve, said Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy, who holds the portfolio for Public Affairs.

In a message to mark World press Freedom Day today, Minister McCoy said training of new journalists and broadcasters, including women, for absorption across both the public and private media spectrums will be undertaken.

He noted that capacity-building through industry training and international scholarships, including for online work, is being facilitated for direct benefit to members of the Guyanese media fraternity and indeed all Guyanese. These awards, the minister noted, form part of a five-year programme that will facilitate 20,000 scholarships across a wide array of academic and skill-based disciplines.

A Broadcast Academy will be established to facilitate world-class industry professional training and exposure for current and new broadcasters, he said, while pointing out that the government is facilitating full access to the free press on a regular basis on state matters and those related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he said, steps have already been taken to strengthen relations and build capacity with the Guyana Press Association (GPA).

“As a nation committed to a free press and a signatory to the declarations of Chapultepec and Windhoek, the Government of Guyana remains therefore unequivocally committed to upholding the constitutional rights of its citizens to freedom of information as a public good, and will continue to actively pursue, develop, consider and support reasonable measures that protect and guarantee access to, or the dissemination of information in all forms and across all media platforms. I therefore take this opportunity to salute all professional media workers in good standing, particularly the veterans and stalwarts with 30 years and over of diligent, exemplary experience in using information as a public good. Again, congratulations and best wishes on behalf of President Ali and my Cabinet colleagues, and indeed, on behalf of all Guyana,” Minister McCoy said in his message.

COMMENDATION

European Union Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz Cantó, in a video message underscored that freedom of the press and media is a key component of preserving democracy, and commended Guyana’s press for the role it played in the country’s 2020 elections.

Canto highlighted the EU’s commitment to contributing to the protection and promotion of press freedom, because of the significance it plays in keeping citizens informed.

“Freedom of expression and information, as well as freedom of the press, provides the most powerful platform for contributing significantly for the formation of public opinion. This allows people to make informed choices in political decisions, and daily lives,” Canto said.

“These freedoms are therefore essential for democracy, which is one of the fundamental values common to all the EU members states and to most of our partners and those are the very values on which the EU is founded.”

World Press Freedom Day was established in 1993 by the UN General Assembly following a recommendation adopted at the 26th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.

Celebration of the day is particularly aimed at reminding governments of the need for the commitment to respecting press freedom, and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics.
This year the day is being celebrated under the theme, “Information as a public good.”

“The title is self-evident. We want to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good and exploring what can be done in the production, distribution and reception of content to strengthen journalism to advance transparency and to ensure empowerment, while leaving no one behind,” Canto remarked in his address. He highlighted that the EU continues to do its part to ensure the preservation of press freedom.

“Within the EU legal framework press freedom is a fundamental right established in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. With its provisions closely resembling that on press freedom in the EU Convention on Human Rights. This is also reflected in other fundamental international provisions,” Canto said. He stressed that the quality of democratic processes is linked to the state of freedom of expression as well as media freedom and pluralism.

“On World Press Freedom Day we want to celebrate the essential role of free press, not only as a conveyor or reliable and accurate news, but [also] as a pillar of democracy. There is no democracy without a truly free press,” he said He cited Guyana’s 2020 elections as a leading example of how the free press in Guyana played a critical role in ensuring the preservation of democracy.

“I want to highlight and commend the important role that press and the media in Guyana played in particular during and after the general elections of 2020. This was fundamental and essential in this important process, which led finally to the declaration of results,” he noted.

In 2020, the declaration of results for Guyana’s General and Regional Elections dragged on for some five months following a number of irregularities, court cases, and a recount process. Canto underlined the critical role the free press is playing during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic before noting how important responsible reporting has been during this period.

“In the pandemic context, the media has also a fundamental responsibility to play. I have to say that if the media is disseminating the right messages success is almost guaranteed,” he added. Canto pledged the EU’s commitment to continuing to tangibly and significantly contributing to the perseveration of press freedom.

“The EU continues to promote free and fair media, not only at home but also globally in relation with partner countries, including by providing funding for targeted projects that enhance quality for journalism. The EU reaffirms its determination to defend press and media freedom within its borders and worldwide,” Canto assured.

IMPORTANT ROLE

Meanwhile, the GPA in its message said this year’s theme ultimately means that state parties have an important role and responsibility, as do the disseminators to ensure that media workers serve the public interest through their content.

“This task has become most important in the period of the pandemic when the public depends on journalists to provide accurate information to counter not only the anti-vaxers, but also those who churn out misinformation and disinformation”, the statement said.

The association noted that states such as Guyana have a critical role to facilitate this public good to the wider public. In this regard, the GPA urged the Government of Guyana to create a greater public awareness about the access to information mechanism so that not only journalists but the wider public can maximise its use.

It used the opportunity to urge the media corps to dedicate journalists to research particular topics and utilise the access-to-information mechanism that it believes needs to be revamped and made user-friendly in a simplified manner.
“In an age when some media practitioners are driven merely by a few lines to catch Social Media eyes, we have to be more aware of the information we put in the public domain. We have to [be] respectful of persons faced with trauma, our treatment of victims of sexual assault, abuse and human trafficking and most importantly, understand our role in the protection of minors and how they are portrayed in the stories we write,” the GPA said.

It noted that the most pressing issue facing journalism is the viability of free and independent media because advertisers and sponsors believe that they get more returns on their dollars from social media, which, for the most part, is “a minefield of misinformation and disinformation.”

In this context, media houses have a larger role to play by constantly educating the public that journalism standing on the pillars of fairness, accuracy, credibility and verification is the basis for informing and educating the public, the statement said. The GPA saluted all media workers, particularly the journalists and editors who continue to toil beyond hours to bring the news to the public.