THE interconnection between the media and democracy is undeniable. As a people still recovering from brazen attempts in 2020 to steal an election in favour of the APNU+AFC, Guyanese can appreciate, even more, the value of a vigilant media corps working around the clock to break the misinformation and disinformation campaigns which, if they had been left unchecked, would have propped up what remains one of the worst attempts by agents of the then-coalition government to stifle the will of the Guyanese people, suppress the statements of international observers to the detriment of Guyana’s international standing, and break down the integrity of key institutions — the courts included.

UNESCO wrote in a 2021 report: “Journalists continue to be victims of a range of repression tactics: non-lethal physical attacks, kidnapping, arbitrary detention, threats, harassment off-line and online, and retaliation against family members. All of these attacks pose a considerable threat to journalists’ ability to perform their critical work and help serve people’s right to information.”

Although Guyana has not landed itself on the statistics for countries where journalists were killed in the line of duty, there are still other threats which media workers experience. Those who worked on the frontline of Guyana’s 2020 General and Regional Elections have been distastefully subjected to harassment by protesting supporters of the then-coalition government as it clutched aimlessly to some semblance of power.

Much has changed since that sordid affair. We have come far from the few and far between press conferences held by Mr Granger during his presidency, a time when the executive appeared distant from public scrutiny. Since Dr Ali’s ascent to the presidency, his government’s heightened level of exposure to the media and public engagement, necessary for any properly functioning governance structure, leaves room for no guessing game about the Guyana vision, plans, and execution. Whether through press conferences, public statements, social media postings and the like, access to publicly elected officials has been paramount.

There is no doubt that President Ali administration’s approach to media engagement has been intentional. Essentially so, since the media is an equal partner in national development, communicating not only the policies and programmes of the government but equally providing feedback from the people directly, or feedback from their elected representatives in the legislative minority.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day is being observed under the theme, “Journalism Under Digital Siege” with Guyana adopting the sub-theme, “Partnerships in Communication for Development (C4D).” Already, government has supported the further training of media workers, and the entry of new media workers through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme, and the Guyana Media and Communications Academy, a partnership with globally recognised, US-based online learning platform, COURSERA.

Consolidating its commitment globally, Guyana in 2021 joined the Media Freedom Coalition, which is described on its website as a collaboration of 52 countries working to advance media freedom at home and abroad through highlighting and condemning instances of threats against journalists, and building the mechanisms to protect media freedoms around the world.

Additionally, Guyana has signed on to the 1994 Chapultepec Declaration at the OAS which acknowledges, among other things, that: “A free press enables societies to resolve their conflicts, promote their well-being and protect their liberty. No law or act of government may limit freedom of expression or of the press, whatever the medium.”

The Cooperative Republic is also a party to the 1991 Declaration of Windhoek, acknowledging that “The establishment, maintenance and fostering of an independent, pluralistic and free press is essential to the development and maintenance of democracy in a nation, and for economic development.”

The state of Guyana’s media corps has considerably improved, and more and more, with support from the Dr Ali administration, stakeholders are experiencing a supportive climate for Article 46 of Guyana’s constitution, which provides: “Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference and freedom from interference with his or her correspondence.”