Evening News to fold -Vieira claims victimisation
By Desiree Jodah
The Evening News, produced by Vieira Communications Television (VCT) Channel 28 is encountering financial troubles and will close by the end of June. Managing Director of VCT, Anthony Vieira, yesterday confirmed that the newscast, which is aired at 1900 hrs from Monday to Friday, was in trouble. He blamed the lack of commercial support from the business sector and claimed that threats were issued to companies not to advertise with VCT. The Evening News was off the air last night and is expected to be back on Tuesday. However, Vieira said, the newscast would be off forever by the end of June or early in July. According to Vieira, between 1989 and 1992, he had more advertisements for paints than he currently has for the entire evening. Vieira claimed that the channel had been victimised since 1995, for saying what Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo is now admitting--that Go-Invest was not performing and that there are problems with the economy. According to reports, employees of VCT yesterday learnt of the managing director's intention to make a statement about the intended closure of the news operation. The employees then went to Vieira's residence at Versailles, West Bank Demerara to meet him. Stabroek News understands VCT employees were told that if Vieira did not get a commitment for advertisements from the business sector, he would discontinue the newscast at the end of June. Vieira also reportedly owes approximately $4.5 million in rent to the owner of the building where the studio is housed on Church Street. Contacted yesterday, the owner, city businessman Ron Persaud, asserted that Vieira owed him $4.5 million. Persaud said Vieira has not paid him any rent for one and a half years. The Evening News started in November 1993. Vieira, in a televised broadcast aired at 1900 hrs yesterday, said it was with deep regret that he had to inform the public that due to victimisation and other circumstances, he has to stop the Evening News in mid June or at the beginning of July. He said there was economic chaos in the country and that businessmen were not making money any more. The television pioneer, his voice breaking, said the fact of the matter was that the Evening News set about in 1993 to promote business expansion with internal and external investment and privatisation of all inefficient government-owned entities. "We predicted that Guyana would go into economic chaos within a few years if these issues were not addressed. Our predictions have proved to be totally true. However, on the other hand, instead of being praised and supported for these predictions we have been victimised... People are being told not to advertise with VCT because the channel is political. People were told if they advertise with VCT they will be given a hard time in terms of duties and taxation and other things. People were told to put their advertisements with GTV," charged Vieira. He lamented that this was unfair competition with private broadcasters because GTV received a big subvention from government. "If you asked a businessman how is business, he would say 'things are bad.' We did not make it bad, we only predicted it would be bad. We are targeted for it. If people are afraid to stand up and say that they are told not to advertise with VCT, because they are going to be victimised for it, then it doesn't make any sense pretending to have democracy or pretending to have a newscast which basis is democracy," said Vieira. He said that as soon as he could "organise the people who work for Evening News, I would discontinue the newscast because the country and the people in this country [are] not ready for democracy." 
|