Media owners must implement code says Cholmondeley Castigates unbalanced reporting and political bias Stabroek News January 23, 2001 Unbalanced reporting and plain political bias are rampant in Guyana's media and this is contributing to a dangerous polarisation of society in the run up to traditionally volatile elections, says media consultant Hugh Cholmondeley. Cholmondeley, who helped convene the roundtables on formulating a media code of conduct guidelines, was commenting on the first report of the Election Commission's Media Monitoring Unit which had noted numerous instances of dubious reporting, mainly by the news broadcasts on radio and television, to which it restricted its monitoring of the broadcast media in this first report. A major contributory problem to the lack of fair reporting, Cholmondeley said, was the absence of an electoral code of conduct signed by the political parties, since the media tended to get caught up in the cycle of irresponsible rhetoric used by the parties. But this did not excuse broadcasters and the print media from remaining objective, Cholmondeley said. This absence along with the more fundamental problem of there being no broadcasting legislation to set out standards on content, meant that the media code of conduct could not guarantee by itself improved performances by either the state or private operators. The media owners and journalists have set up their own monitoring panel which will commence operations on February 1, 200l. Despite this, Cholmondeley said it was necessary that the 50 persons who signed the code, urge and be urged to follow its principles. This includes the issue of free speech. He posited that in a country as fragile as Guyana, free speech could not enjoy the latitude permitted in more stable societies such as America. While libellous comments were catered for under the law and could lead to legal action, incitement to racial hatred and the promotion of public disorder must also be considered off limits given this country's tumultuous past. Cholmondeley asked two questions, does the media consider the Guyanese citizen to be an intelligent human being and does the media believe that during election campaigns their duty is to present as many contesting views as possible? To these two questions, he said, judging by their performance, the answer is a resounding no. He also referred to some of the findings of the MMU's report (see story on page 3). Cholmondeley who has worked for the United Nations in ethnically charged countries, stated that "the average Guyanese citizen was indeed intelligent but with the level of racial tension people are more subject to manipulation." Political parties were intent come election time on increasing these racial tensions as a means to galvanise their supporters but it was a fundamental responsibility of the media to assist people to come to informed judgments. Cholmondeley pointed out that the state broadcasting apparatus had a higher obligation to be balanced in its reporting simply because state owned meant owned by the taxpayer and as such the state media have to represent the views of all the citizens. "Partisanship in state owned media is entirely unacceptable and objectionable." While private broadcasters are not so obliged they must make sure their news broadcasts uphold the strict standards of balanced reporting and seek before all else to educate and inform the public. Private broadcasters were not excused from the irresponsible statements repeatedly made on talk shows simply by the placement of a disclaimer. Cholmondeley said the policies of both government and private broadcasters could be changed overnight. He said those who owned or controlled the stations should make a clear public statement of their policy on fair and balanced reporting which involves differentiating fact from opinion and on the need to avoid stirring up racial hatred. These guidelines should then be clearly communicated in a directive to all their journalists and to all talk show hosts who appeared on their stations, who should be required to comply with the code and guidelines. Concurring with a remark in the MMU report Cholmondeley said the talk shows could not by their very nature be held to the same standards as news broadcasts but still must avoid libel, slander and the incitement to racial hatred. The MMU did not deal with the talk shows in this report but said that in future reports they would provide detailed analyses of those programmes. It was the talk shows, Cholmondeley said, that troubled him so much, considering his overseas assignments. He recalled a quotation from a book on Rwanda where 800,000 citizens were slaughtered by their fellow countrymen in the space of a month. In a book by Gerrard Prunier,the author remembers the infamous radio station Radio Milles Collines that encouraged and directed these killings. "During the genocide, it became what the listener at the time called a "vampire radio" openly calling for blood and massacres. Yet people went on listening to it with a kind of stupefied fascination, incredulous at the relaxed joking way in which it defiled the most deeply cherished human values." There was something familiar in this observation, Cholomondeley suggested. Improbable as it may seem today, if the media in this country do not urgently begin to take their responsibilities seriously, Guyana could be on the road to Rwanda. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today