Guyana Times slams Press Association

The management of Guyana Times and TVG Channel 28 has condemned, in the strongest terms, assertions by senior members of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) that sought to discredit this media house by characterising it as a “state-like entity”.

The comments made by GPA President Gordon Moseley and committee member Adam Harris, on a televised programme in July, apart from being biased, also seriously call into question the integrity of the GPA, its impartiality, and whether its current executives are capable of representing the interests of media workers in Guyana.

The issue we speak to is a July 10 presentation of “Plain Talk”, hosted by Christopher Ram, which included a media panel of Moseley, Harris and former GPA president Denis Chabrol. The panel was discussing media coverage of the current elections campaign. During the discussion, Moseley introduced the notion of a “state-looking private media” and “how they twist things”. Egged on by the chortling host, the panel was asked to clarify the concept, amid much snickering. Harris then named TVG Channel 28 and this newspaper as exemplifying the “state-looking private media”. Earlier in the programme, Chabrol had expatiated on the penchant of the state media to cover government’s social and other programmes. He asserted that the public demands more salacious fare from the private media.

Management views as very hypocritical the senior GPA members’ categorisation of Guyana Times and TVG Channel 28 in such terms, when the GPA seeks their support for many of its activities. It can be recalled that, at the birthing of Guyana Times, management did not hesitate to sign on as a corporate member of the GPA, and encouraged all of its journalists to do likewise.

Although we do not agree with some of the positions it adopts, our support for the GPA and its programmes is without question.

However, this recent development begs a review of our association with that body.

Management feels that the skewed views of those executive members of the GPA regarding what constitutes an independent media house, and also their description of Guyana Times/TVG, were clearly aimed at discrediting this media house. Those views also contradict the professional role of the GPA and its executive in providing impartial representation to its members.