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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Restriction of parliamentary media - an assault on press freedom</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Shirley Williams
Sunday, October 29, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>The majority of Jamaicans have never attended Gordon House during parliamentary sessions, and are perhaps perplexed about the recent restrictions placed on the media by the Speaker of the House.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=100 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Shirley Williams </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>It is an accepted convention that the Speaker is responsible for controlling and preserving order in the House chamber and gallery during sittings of Parliament. His ruling that the media be restricted to a confined area in the chamber is a result of the photograph, carried on the front page of this newspaper, showing the prime minister sketching during the debate on the opposition's motion of no-confidence.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the four years that I have served in Parliament, I have observed the media moving their cameras from one side of the chamber to the other. Located as they are on the second floor, this movement permits them to capture the members in their entirety, from in front, from the rear and indeed, even that which is written or read in their seat. In short, until recently, the media enjoyed a panoramic and detailed view of the floor of Parliament and its members.
And so it should be!<P class=StoryText align=justify>MEMBERS' RIGHT TO PRIVACY<P class=StoryText align=justify>Parliamentarians have rightly maintained a right to privacy in circumstances where the issues do not impinge on their public roles and duties. Parliament however, is the sacred place where the business of the people is conducted, and in particular, the chamber where the debates are held and information tabled. While the public is entitled to have free access to the gallery of Parliament, it is the media, which attend each sitting on their behalf, and more often, not a single member of the public is present.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In accepting a parliamentary post, whether as an elected or appointed member, each and every one of us has granted the public unfettered access to view us on the floor of Parliament, whether it is via written reports of our statements or electronic images flashed across the nation. The privileges of Parliament as I understand it protect us from prosecution outside the chamber on issues raised, but not from public disclosure.<P class=StoryText align=justify>PRIME MINISTER'S DOODLE<P class=StoryText align=justify>The doodling of the prime minister during the presentation of a member, on so crucial an issue as a no-confidence motion moved against the government, is not for me to interpret. I can only say that while presentations are being made, members ought to listen keenly and make notes where appropriate.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Considering that the prime minister had not yet spoken, one would expect her to 'jot' notes of the Speaker's presentation so as to address the points raised. Instead, she merely read a prepared text, apparently oblivious to the day's presentations.
The capturing of the sketches, and their transmission to the nation, is to me a brilliant piece of journalism, which places the prime minister in the context of the debate and stimulates the reader into thinking and drawing his/her own conclusion.<P class=StoryText align=justify>THE SPEAKER'S PUNISHMENT<P class=StoryText align=justify>The banning of the media to an impractical, unworkable, confined space in the chamber is likened
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Shirley Williams
Sunday, October 29, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>The majority of Jamaicans have never attended Gordon House during parliamentary sessions, and are perhaps perplexed about the recent restrictions placed on the media by the Speaker of the House.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=100 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Shirley Williams </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>It is an accepted convention that the Speaker is responsible for controlling and preserving order in the House chamber and gallery during sittings of Parliament. His ruling that the media be restricted to a confined area in the chamber is a result of the photograph, carried on the front page of this newspaper, showing the prime minister sketching during the debate on the opposition's motion of no-confidence.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In the four years that I have served in Parliament, I have observed the media moving their cameras from one side of the chamber to the other. Located as they are on the second floor, this movement permits them to capture the members in their entirety, from in front, from the rear and indeed, even that which is written or read in their seat. In short, until recently, the media enjoyed a panoramic and detailed view of the floor of Parliament and its members.And so it should be!<P class=StoryText align=justify>MEMBERS' RIGHT TO PRIVACY<P class=StoryText align=justify>Parliamentarians have rightly maintained a right to privacy in circumstances where the issues do not impinge on their public roles and duties. Parliament however, is the sacred place where the business of the people is conducted, and in particular, the chamber where the debates are held and information tabled. While the public is entitled to have free access to the gallery of Parliament, it is the media, which attend each sitting on their behalf, and more often, not a single member of the public is present.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In accepting a parliamentary post, whether as an elected or appointed member, each and every one of us has granted the public unfettered access to view us on the floor of Parliament, whether it is via written reports of our statements or electronic images flashed across the nation. The privileges of Parliament as I understand it protect us from prosecution outside the chamber on issues raised, but not from public disclosure.<P class=StoryText align=justify>PRIME MINISTER'S DOODLE<P class=StoryText align=justify>The doodling of the prime minister during the presentation of a member, on so crucial an issue as a no-confidence motion moved against the government, is not for me to interpret. I can only say that while presentations are being made, members ought to listen keenly and make notes where appropriate.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Considering that the prime minister had not yet spoken, one would expect her to 'jot' notes of the Speaker's presentation so as to address the points raised. Instead, she merely read a prepared text, apparently oblivious to the day's presentations.
The capturing of the sketches, and their transmission to the nation, is to me a brilliant piece of journalism, which places the prime minister in the context of the debate and stimulates the reader into thinking and drawing his/her own conclusion.<P class=StoryText align=justify>THE SPEAKER'S PUNISHMENT<P class=StoryText align=justify>The banning of the media to an impractical, unworkable, confined space in the chamber is likened
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