GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — The Guyana Press Association (GPA) says it is concerned that Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo had engaged in a tactic that may have an effect on press freedom in Guyana.

The media organisation was commenting on recent media reports that Nagamootoo had met with a reporter for the state-owned Chronicle newspaper to express his disappointment over the publication of a news item he perceived to be critical off the new David Granger administration.

Nagamootoo has denied that he sought to intimidate the reporter, but the GPA said it felt “compelled to comment on the issue, because while the prime minister is free to express his views, he should not express such views directly to media workers as this is known to be a tactic of intimidation and may have a dampening effect on press freedom that can result in self-censorship.

“Further, the GPA regards the prime minister’s stated pro-government expectations of the publicly-funded Guyana Chronicle newspaper (and presumably all State-owned media) as a retrograde and intolerable step that betrays the governing coalition’s campaign and post-election promises not to engage in the same press freedom violations previous administrations were accused of,” a GPA release said.

The GPA said that on the matter of the prime minister’s comment on “government owned media” there needs to be a clear distinction between the State and the Government, it wished to “suggest that there should be, following extensive consultations, a policy which adumbrates the way the executive should interact with state-owned media that would allow for freedom of the press to be exercised in a meaningful way within these entities.

“Integral also in the approach towards a free and open State media, the association believes, should be the reform of the Broadcasting Act and the adoption of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s editorial guidelines that govern that United Kingdom State-owned and funded broadcaster.”

The GPA said that it was urging “all journalists never to be swayed by opinion, good or bad, once your story is factual, accurate and true. Questions from political leaders regarding your work should be directed to your editors”.