Press body turns up heat on PM

Little more than a week after prime minister and leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Andrew Holness, directed party supporters to visit his social media platforms for accurate news, while suggesting that not all information presented by the local media are factual or truthful, the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) has taken him to task for his remarks.

At the same time, Dr Rohan Lewis, associate professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Technology, Jamaica, said that in any modern democracy, commercial and public media are the key elements that hold the Government accountable, not the social media of political entities.

Addressing Labourites at a West Kingston political conference on November 18, Holness told a partisan crowd: “You can go on social media, you can go on my page, ... all my social-media pages, the party pages, you have so much now, news opportunity, to get informed. You don’t have to rely on one particular media for information or commentary or opinion”.

In a statement yesterday, the press body noted that while directing members of the public to his or his political party’s social pages may not be controversial, conflating this with comments about media not needing to report the truth sends a clear message that the press is not to be trusted. The PAJ also said that this signalled that the Government’s and party’s information arms are preferable to that of a free and democratic press.

The PAJ said that while the prime minister was free to criticise the press and challenge the veracity of its reports like any citizen, it is cause for concern when a political leader, speaking from a political party platform, seeks to undermine the media as a whole.

“It is even more disturbing that Mr Holness did so under the cloak of supporting freedom of the press, for which Jamaica has an enviable reputation,” the PAJ said.

CHECKS AND BALANCES

The PAJ also criticised Holness for “conflating opinion journalism and reporting”, noting that there was an important distinction.

Lewis said that the Government had a vested interest in putting out its own communication, but noted that its message may be devoid of the kind of “checking and balancing” that would come from a media report.

“In a sense, that is political propaganda; that is not the kind of media output that is expected to interrogate and analyse and do the kind of things that one would expect in a democracy,” he said.

“International players who compare press across the regions of the world have indicated that our press is strong; they have more credence than someone who has a vested interest in not being criticised in our context,” Lewis stressed.

Responding to the PAJ’s concerns, parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Robert Morgan, dismissed any assertion that Holness was trying to undermine the local press.

“We don’t believe that the media should be nervous about scrutiny and nervous about diverse opinions because the media maintain the right to criticise and investigate anyone they wish.

“It is very fascinating to us that those who guard the right of freedom of speech and freedom of expression are so nervous in the light of scrutiny,” he said.

Morgan claims that on numerous occasions, the media published false information, noting “recently in your paper, a statement that the Government was engaged with Mossad … and statements that there was tension between Jamaica and United States.”

He said: “Even when the minister of national security went to Parliament and outlined the facts, next day, there was an editorial that was predicated on the false information in your paper.”

Morgan contended that the media could not claim exclusive rights to publishing facts, noting that there were other platforms, including social media, that provide information to the public.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com