| …after dismantling previous media monitoring unitOnly three years after ordering the closure of the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU), the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) informed that it intends to have in place “a special body” mandated to oversee the operations of the local media.But media practitioners say that this smacks of confusion and a knee jerk reaction.There was a Media Monitoring Unit, operating under the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)> This body was implemented in 2006 and served to monitor information disseminated by the local press,Wholesale Jerseys, issuing a report on media practices at the end of every month.According to a staff of the then functioning media monitoring unit, its purpose was to facilitate a peaceful and stable political environment.It was noted that while the unit was part of the autonomous GECOM, it enjoyed adequate funding from donor agencies under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Such funding however was subjected to negotiation and approval by the Government.Although the funds from the donor agencies were approved to continue operations, the Government was fixed on its move to pull the plug. The MMU was officially disbanded in July 2010. The government was not happy that the state media attracted the largest extent of negative reporting from the monitoring unit.The notion voiced yesterday by PPP General Secretary, Clement Rohee, to introduce an oversight body for the media came after the party was critical of the reportage of two of the three independent newspapers in Guyana.According to the General Secretary,World Baseball Classic Jerseys 2017, the party is particularly concerned about the information emanating from the daily issues of the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News. Information provided by the ruling party is “buried or butchered” while information given by politicians of the Opposition is “given prominence”,MLB Jerseys From China, Rohee said yesterday.He said that while the party’s press conferences and statements are to the avail of Stabroek News,Deion Jones Falcons Jersey, nothing is carried in its comments. The party also accused Kaieteur News of feeding the Guyanese people “a daily dose of misinformation”.The General Secretary said that behind such reporting is a “hidden agenda” that seeks to control political power and the developmental efforts of the party in Government.It was stated, then, that while the PPP/C will continue to uphold fundamental rights such as the right to freedom of speech and press freedom,Stitched Jerseys, the party will be exploring the notion of setting up an oversight body designed to monitor news which is fed to the nation by means of the local media.However, the Guyana Press Association (GPA), the body that represents the rights of local media houses, views this call as being speculative; since it was the PPP/C that dismantled a similar ‘monitoring unit’ three years ago.President of the GPA, Gordon Moseley recalled that in 2010 under the Jagdeo administration, the Government demanded that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) be shut down.He said that in all the reports issued by MMU at that time, the greatest infringements on the rights of the nation to receive accurate information came from the state-owned media.“The call made by the PPP/C is very strange given that it is the same Government that instructed that the UN cease funds going to the MMU,” Moseley said. He added that if one group does not approve of the coverage it receives,China NFL Jerseys, “that does not mean that everything should fall apart”.He said that the Association supports self regulation in the media and “that has been going good so far.” |
