THE Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) yesterday asked Prime Minister Bruce Golding to clarify the government and his party’s policy on press freedom, following criticism by his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) affiliate Generation 2000 of alleged media bias.

Opposition information spokesman Sandrea Falconer cited Monday’s remarks by Generation 2000, the young professional arm of the JLP, that it would be ‘going after’ several named media commentators whom it perceived as using the cover media independence to attack their party.

Falconer said that the G2K was continuing a trend set by the JLP of naming persons and organisations they deem hostile to their party. She argued that by doing so, the JLP was making such persons at risk of attack by misguided party supporters.

“The latest actions by members of the JLP leadership will not be tolerated by civil society. The freedom that members of the media now have to practise their craft is non-negotiable and those who try to limit or take away that right will be met with the disapproval of the people,” she said.

Falconer demanded that Golding specifically state whether it is a Government or party position to do as G2K suggested, or disassociate himself from such remarks.

G2K, the JLP’s young professional arm, said Monday it would be embarking on a public relations campaign to highlight the achievements of the Bruce Golding-led government in what it said was a media environment with sections hostile to the present administration.

The group is also questioning the methodology of recent opinion polls, each of which has the JLP trailing PNP by significant margins.

Speaking at a press conference at the JLP headquarters yesterday Monday, G2K spokespersons said the party would be using the traditional media outlets of newspapers, radio and television but will be increasingly turn to new media to deliver its message.

They accused media houses of stacking radio and TV news analysis shows with commentators hostile to the JLP.

“Additionally, discussion panels are too frequently biased and include persons deceptively positioned as being neutral but are usually political activists themselves,” G2K President Delano Seiveright stated.

“In this sordid environment good news is drowned out by a flood of recycled yet sensational and negative news stories that have seeped into the minds of too many Jamaicans promulgating heavy cynicism and apathy”, he added.

Singling out news commentators Lambert Brown, Rev Garnet Roper and Richard “Dickie” Crawford as obvious PNP supporters, the G2K called on media houses to state the political background of commentators, as is done on American talk shows for example.

Seiveright highlighted the economy, healthcare, education, tourism, agriculture, transport, works, and crime reduction as areas of the administration’s success.

“Despite the challenges, the JLP has emerged as the team with the better leader, better plan and better performance bar none,” he stated.

The G2K says it has written to the Gleaner, the CVM Group and the RJR Group to disclose their methodology used in conducting polls in light of the differences in their findings. The Gleaner’s Bill Johnson poll showed the PNP leading the JLP by 10 percentage points whilst the CVM Don Anderson poll showed the PNP 23 points ahead of the ruling party.

Asked why the G2K was questioning the polls when they show that the party was trailing, Seiveright said G2K’s polling unit had expressed concerns about the polls in internal meetings for the last two years.

“The results are simply too far apart. To have a 13-point gap (between the outcomes of the two polls) is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

“Clearly one of those polls if not both, are wrong”, stated G2K general secretary Colin Virgo, adding that the G2K’s polling unit was spot on in the last elections, calling all the seats correctly.

The G2K disclosed that it was in talks with an experienced US-based pollster to review the methodology before arriving at a position on the polls.