A report of threats on the lives of journalists Cliff Hughes and Emily Crooks, and other workers at Nationwide News Network, has drawn strong reaction from the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ).

In a statement late last week, Desmond Richards, president of the PAJ, said:

"The threat to freedom from any quarter and in any form is a threat to the very existence of all the freedoms for which our forefathers fought - a fight which took us from slavery to Emancipation and Independence."

Jounalists paying the price

He noted that to date no Jamaican journalist has had to pay the ultimate price like other journalists in other societies.

Maintaining the position that journalists should be allowed to practise their profession without fear or favour, the PAJ called on the perpetrators to stop these acts.

In enlisting the support of the security forces, the PAJ urged them to act upon whatever information is provided to apprehend the would-be assassins.

"Do not succumb to panic and the self-seeking interference of those with agendas," the PAJ encouraged journalists.

Richards maintains, "The PAJ is concerned not only for those within its ranks but for the whole society of which it is a part and which it serves."