Paying the piper…

…in media

The President graciously hosted the Guyana Media Association (GMA) for the New Year. In a not-so-subtle reprimand to his Prime Minister Nagamootoo, who was present, he averred that the media has every right to be critical of the government. Not long into the new regime, during the budget debate, Nagamootoo took it upon himself to publicly upbraid a Guyana Chronicle reporter for stating the government had “blundered” in its presentation.

After drubbing the reporter’s conclusion of “blundering”, the Prime Minister – who was denied the “governance” portfolio promised in the Cummingsburg Accord and left with the “Information” duties – later said, “I had expected better from a government-owned newspaper.”

The Chronicle subsequently wrote a very obsequious editorial announcing that the Chronicle “is owned by the State, and is, therefore, expected to editorially support the general thrust of the government of the day.”

The GMA to its credit, immediately rejected the position of both Nagamootoo and Chronicle and pointed out that a clear distinction needed to be made between the “state” – which owns the newspaper – and “the government” –which happens to be running the state for the next five years.

The latter it pointed out – by the tenets of the free press – should be open to criticism when in the opinion of the media they’re off course. The GMA opined that the old authoritarian mindset of controlling the media might be manifesting itself in Guyana once again.

So Pressie’s promise to stay off the backs of the media sounds good and must be complimented. Even though he didn’t specifically mention whether the State media was included in his charge – this Eyewitness will take his use of the plural “media” to understand that “all are involved” – including the Chronicle. But he did allude to editors who might be pressured by those above them. He could have been referring to the General Editor of the Chronicle, who was fired summarily.

But even though Pressie promised a hands off approach, the money he promised the GMA for “training” is worrisome.

Taking the present Chronicle’s slavish pandering to the government in its coverage of the government (voluntarily, in its words, because of who’s paying the piper), aren’t there going to be doubts in the minds of the citizenry that GMA operatives might also self-censor themselves so as not to derail the new gravy train?

This Eyewitness for one remembers the words of Martin Carter about “the mouth is muzzled by the hands that feed it”.

He wrote this after quitting as Information Minister in the first PNC government back in 1971. He knoweth of what he spoketh!

…but not the citizens

A sad pattern is visible when the government’s actions are scrutinised from a macro-standpoint. It begins with saying all the politically right things to ordinary folks. It’ll raise their salaries “substantially”, it’ll raise pensions, it’ll promote women etc…etc.

In each of those cases it either doesn’t deliver – or it gives with the right hand and takes away even more with the left hand. And we know who sits on the left hand… don’t we? How about the cruel joke played on senior citizens when it “raised” their pensions by $4000 and then took away the subsidy of electricity and water – which amounted to at least twice that?

The latest outrage was revealed by this newspaper – but the rest of the media’s been studiously avoiding the issue.

Nowadays, almost every family has a car or some vehicle using gasoline. With the world price of oil plummeting by more than half, how come ordinary citizens aren’t benefitting – as are other countries?

Simple… while the government boasts of reducing the Berbice Bridge’s toll by $300, it’s pocketing more than that on EVERY GAL OF GASOLINE SOLD!

…on obfuscation

After boasting during the budget debate that the PPP growth rate would be maintained, the Finance Minister sheepishly conceded that it even didn’t amount to half of that.

And the govt still hadn’t “blundered”?