PM urges restraint in use of photographs
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller yesterday called on the media to exercise greater restraint and responsible judgement in the use of photographs after the publication in last Friday’s Daily Observer of a mural of her with what residents said were bullet holes.
“Mindful of the mood in the country at this time and the possible interpretation which persons on either side of the political divide could put to such imagery, greater restraint and responsible judgement need to be exercised by the press,” Simpson Miller said in a statement.
The photograph was published as an inset to a larger picture of residents of a section of Maxfield Avenue protesting against last Wednesday’s murder of 23 year-old hairdresser Nordia Fletcher.
According to the protestors, Fletcher was at her home at Swettenham Road when her door was kicked in by three gunmen who shot her.
The demonstrators also said that they were receiving threats from gunmen telling them that if they do not switch political allegiance from the ruling People’s National Party to the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party they (the residents) would be harmed.
The protestors pointed the Observer to the mural which, they said, was shot up by the gunmen.
Yesterday, the prime minister said that the publication of the photograph has the potential to incite and inflame either supporters or opponents and sends a dangerous signal.
“Clearly, at a time when we are all concerned at the escalating tensions in the society, by its publication, we are not saying that it is okay to ‘shoot up’ the prime minister or any other leader for that matter, or that the prime minister is a target,” Simpson Miller said.
“By its publication also, the media house in question and indeed the entire fraternity could be exposed to become possible targets of abuse and attack,” she added.
“As a responsible media in a democracy, I urge greater care in the publication of photographs in the press and that at least be mindful that such photos could send the wrong signal by serving to communicate a different interpretation to different people,” the prime minister said.
