| It has been a little over a month since Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, in an address to the National Assembly, announced plans to have new boards installed at the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Guyana National Newspapers Ltd. which produces the Guyana Chronicle.Speaking with the media yesterday, the Prime Minister revealed that the boards have not been appointed as yet. He, however, assured that the process is ongoing. He said the boards will comprise persons who are qualified and, “who have roots in broadcasting, information, journalism and technical training.”“I am not going to be a Minister responsible for information and who puts party hacks into these boards, to just draw stipends for not working, but to do party propaganda,” the Prime Minister was quoted as saying in a Government statement yesterday.He added that “those ghost writers and those ghost producers are things of the past.”According to the Prime Minister, members of the Board of Directors for the state media entities will be professionals and they will be bringing to the fore, in Guyana, a new approach to information and communication.“It must be people driven, to do what it takes to serve the needs of the Guyanese people, and to serve social and development agendas, not a partisan political agenda,” he said.The Prime Minister, in an earlier address to the National Assembly, had pledged the new administration’s support for true press freedom.He had stated that whilst the new Administration will make no attempt to curb the constitutional right of freedom of any media, including that of the state, it will not turn a blind eye to irresponsible, partisan information that had characterised these media, under the previous administrationNagamootoo, however, urged that information must be disseminated in a responsible manner that will “help, not destroy Guyana.” Moreover, the Prime Minister said that the ‘right of reply’ must be catered for, so persons who “come under assault and attack” would have the right to tell their side of the story.”He had said that these entities that were used as “partisan propaganda rags” must be revolutionized to become the “bastion of public information that is credible.” The Prime Minister holds responsibility for the information sector.The new Government, taking office in May, had sacked a number of “ghost” workers who were reportedly hired to write and produce stories, letters to the editors and even monitor social websites.NCN and the Guyana Chronicle have been unprofitable and there were indications of widespread abuse of airtime and newspaper space. There have been investigations into fraud also at NCN, with the report ducked by the former administration. |
