VICE PRESIDENT, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday, highlighted the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C) support for press freedom in Guyana, noting that the party will fight to maintain it.

“I want to make it clear, we believe in press freedom; we will fight to maintain press freedom. We believe journalists should be treated with respect,” he stated during a press conference at the PPP/C’s Freedom House Headquarters.

He said that the PPP/C believes that journalists should be treated fairly despite what they write.

“They have a job and they are pursuing their job. So, we must not go after the journalists themselves. We know what the editorial policy of some of the media houses is,” Jagdeo noted.
He said that the political party has always been supportive of the press and it has fought for the rights of the media.

“We know what it was when the PNC had banned newsprint in this country. They banned you being able to bring in print so you could not print your newspaper. People had to smuggle newsprint into the country, the paper, to print the newspapers on because the Catholic Standard in the early days and the Mirror, they could not get paper to print because the PNC had banned it,” Jagdeo explained.

He added, “We’ve come a long way from when journalists were killed or threatened to be killed.”

According to Jagdeo, the party has a vested interest in ensuring Guyana has free, competitive media.

“We will defend the right of the media to say it, even if in our view it is misguided, we will defend that right of the media to say it…except when it borders on criminality,” he said.

VP Jagdeo continued: “What we have seen, a lot of the online stuff that call themselves media. It’s not really media, its commentators. We’re not going to fight to defend that but everyone else we will fight to defend for that right.”

On May 3, 2023, World Press Freedom Day was observed and Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, in a recent statement said that as the socio-economic landscape of Guyana evolves in multi-dimensional directions, the Fourth Estate and arguably the emerging Fifth will remain most pivotal in helping to undergird the national ethos.

“Successive PPP/C governments have consistently regarded the free press in high esteem, seeking always to partner in the building of fundamental capacities to steadily improve, creating opportunities for professional industry training and academic growth, and building an enabling environment that safeguards the sanctity, security, freedoms and access of the media, in consonance with broader freedoms and rights enjoyed by every citizen under the constitution,” his statement read.

Further, he related that successive PPP/C administrations have ratified and enforced international conventions and subscribed to global platforms and fora that promote and advocate in the interest of the fraternity.

“As recently as 2021, our government ratified the Media Freedom Coalition which focuses heavily on the safety and protection of journalists and other media workers. Ours is a commitment that is steadfast and unwavering, and one which is embedded in an active continuum of a future of rights, as a cornerstone of responsible governance and citizenship,” Minister McCoy said.
In 2022, after convening one of the largest assemblies of media practitioners and other stakeholders in a national conference and symposium, Guyana’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index improved 17 places to number 34 among 180 countries.

Minister McCoy related that he is proud to be associated with the stellar record of steady progress towards the most ideal symbiotic environment possible.