Jagdeo

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has joined calls by the news media to ask Guyana President, Bharrat Jagdeo, to reconsider his government's position and end its discrimination in the placement of official advertising.

The Guyana and English-speaking Caribbean media had issued a joint statement on May 24 in support of press freedom in that country. This, after Mr. Jagdeo banned advertising from 29 government ministries, agencies and state-owned corporations, from the Starbroek News newspaper.

Chairman of the IAPA Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Gonzalo Marroquin, said governments in the Western hemisphere often use advertising as a tool to punish or reward media for their degree of support.

Here in Jamaica, government frequently advertise in the media, albeit without any similar bans.

"These discriminatory practices, often used in reprisal for a news outlet's editorial policies, must be denounced and repudiated," said Mr. Marroquin, who edits the Prensa Libre newspaper in Guatemala.