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The prime minister and the Press
CLAUDE ROBINSON
Sunday, December 01, 2013
DISAGREEMENT between working journalists and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) about protocol and access to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller appeared irreconcilable last week as both the OPM and the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) retained opposing hard-line positions.
Minister with responsibility for information in the OPM, Senator Sandrea Falconer, "reiterated" Wednesday that media practitioners should follow procedures for doing impromptu, on-location interviews with the prime minister.
FALCONER… journalists must first make a request for an interview to a member of the prime minister’s support team on location
CAMPBELL… PAJ members will not accept any guidelines set by the Office of the Prime Minister regarding impromptu interviews
FALCONER… journalists must first make a request for an interview to a member of the prime minister’s support team on location
On the other hand, PAJ President and Gleaner Managing Editor Jenni Campbell "reiterated" that PAJ members "will not accept any guidelines set by the Office of the Prime Minister regarding impromptu interviews and that we DO NOT (emphasis hers) regard ourselves as bound by these strictures".
The OPM initially outlined the protocol to the PAJ last May following an incident when reporters jostled with the prime minister's security detail as they lobbed questions at Mrs Simpson Miller as she made her way to the podium for the official opening of the ATL Autohaus showrooms in Kingston.
The issued resurfaced in the wake of the recent incident when members of the prime minister's close security detail shoved TVJ reporter Vashan Brown as he sought to interview Mrs Simpson Miller.
According to the protocol outlined by Senator Falconer: Journalists "must first make a request" to a member of the prime minister's support team on location; "if granted, such interviews will take place after the prime minister has completed her engagement, and not upon her arrival".
Senator Falconer says her door remains open and she is urging the PAJ "to come to the discussion table so that concerns can be discussed in a calm and rational way"; but any such discussion remains unlikely as the PAJ has advised that its members "will not be bound" by the Government guidelines.
The latest round of the controversial and sometimes testy relations between Prime Minister Simpson Miller and the Jamaican media came as the PAJ observed its annual Journalism Week with a round of activities honouring past and present achievers in the profession and reflecting on the role of the press in society.
The incident with the TVJ reporter occurred after the prime minister had headlined a ceremony in Rose Town in South St Andrew for the dedication of a water and sewer project. The TV footage showed the prime minister walking at the head of a cluster of persons when she was approached by the reporter who asked a question about the project.
The prime minister appeared pleased at the question and began explaining the developmental significance of the US$2-millon project to the people and the affected communities.
However, the mood changed as soon as she was asked to explain her decision to reinstate Richard Azan as minister of state for transport, works and housing despite adverse comment that it sent the wrong message about accountability for his role in the construction of the shops on lands owned by the Clarendon Parish Council without prior approval of the council.
It was a legitimate journalistic question because there had been no previous explanation by the prime minister of the decision; and the tone and manner of the reporter could not properly be labelled as disrespectful or rude.
Mrs Simpson Miller refused to answer the question on the Azan reappointment, and when the journalist pressed a follow-up she called for the journalist to respect her decision to not comment further; the security detail then intervened, shoving the reporter as they cleared a path for the prime minister.
Those responsible for the prime minister's security will always do what they have to do under any circumstances in furtherance of that responsibility.
Based on the televised images it did not appear that the behaviour of the reporter posed a threat; the concern seemed more about the fact that the reporter was seeking to press the prime minister on a matter that she would rather not deal with.
Indeed, it is instructive that Mrs Simpson Miller explained that she would not answer the question because any response to the Azan matter would be the basis for a news story while she wanted the news to be about the Rose Town water and sewer project.
As one of our most experienced and savvy politicians, Mrs Simpson Miller knows only too well that news editors cannot yield their responsibility to make the final decision about which stories will make the news and the prominence they will receive.
She should also have known that the remark would become the story of the night and beyond, rather than the Rose Town development project.
LACK OF ACCESS THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE
Admittedly, Mrs Simpson Miller is perfectly within her right not to answer the question on the Azan matter or to argue that there was nothing wrong with the reinstatement, because the director of public prosecution (DPP) had concluded that the junior minister's action did not rise to the level of any criminal offence.
But that would not give her the right to shut down questioning or to ignore the observations of the Office of Contractor General and the DPP and her own Local Government Minister Noel Arscott that administrative procedures had been violated.
The prime minister should explain her position on that, especially in the context of the position against corruption articulated at her second swearing-in.
The sight of reporters jostling to get close enough to question and record the prime minister can look unseemly and I would prefer if the process was more orderly.
Fundamentally, though, the problem is not about protocol or threat to Jamaica's well-established tradition of a free press. It is about the demonstrable lack of access to the prime minister by members of the media to pose hard questions about the critical issues facing the country on which the prime minister infrequently speaks.
As the PAJ's Ms Campbell noted, the concern of members was about the lack of access to the prime minister to respond to the issues of the day and the absence of press briefings, on- and off-the-record sittings, as well as the granting of in-depth interviews.
Mrs Simpson Miller has stated that she will not talk her way out of power. That is, she will not change a leadership style that has worked for her over many decades. Her considerable political success has been due to her direct contact with the people as the person who will protect their interest. It was not born of media interventions.
In Parliament and outside, Mrs Simpson Miller has often insisted on being treated with the dignity of the office, and her strongest supporters reject criticism and searching questions on controversial public policy issues as sexist or classist because of the humble origin from which she rose, against tremendous odds, to become party leader and Jamaica's first woman prime minister.
But in a democracy based on public accountability, especially of those who exercise State power, the press are not cheerleaders in the service of the powerful in politics, business or any special interest group.
In pursuit of their responsibility to tell the whole story fairly and honestly, reporters will pose the uncomfortable questions whenever and wherever they can. That's their job.
kcr@cwjamaica.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2mHLMfALL
CLAUDE ROBINSON
Sunday, December 01, 2013
DISAGREEMENT between working journalists and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) about protocol and access to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller appeared irreconcilable last week as both the OPM and the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) retained opposing hard-line positions.
Minister with responsibility for information in the OPM, Senator Sandrea Falconer, "reiterated" Wednesday that media practitioners should follow procedures for doing impromptu, on-location interviews with the prime minister.
FALCONER… journalists must first make a request for an interview to a member of the prime minister’s support team on location
CAMPBELL… PAJ members will not accept any guidelines set by the Office of the Prime Minister regarding impromptu interviews
FALCONER… journalists must first make a request for an interview to a member of the prime minister’s support team on location
On the other hand, PAJ President and Gleaner Managing Editor Jenni Campbell "reiterated" that PAJ members "will not accept any guidelines set by the Office of the Prime Minister regarding impromptu interviews and that we DO NOT (emphasis hers) regard ourselves as bound by these strictures".
The OPM initially outlined the protocol to the PAJ last May following an incident when reporters jostled with the prime minister's security detail as they lobbed questions at Mrs Simpson Miller as she made her way to the podium for the official opening of the ATL Autohaus showrooms in Kingston.
The issued resurfaced in the wake of the recent incident when members of the prime minister's close security detail shoved TVJ reporter Vashan Brown as he sought to interview Mrs Simpson Miller.
According to the protocol outlined by Senator Falconer: Journalists "must first make a request" to a member of the prime minister's support team on location; "if granted, such interviews will take place after the prime minister has completed her engagement, and not upon her arrival".
Senator Falconer says her door remains open and she is urging the PAJ "to come to the discussion table so that concerns can be discussed in a calm and rational way"; but any such discussion remains unlikely as the PAJ has advised that its members "will not be bound" by the Government guidelines.
The latest round of the controversial and sometimes testy relations between Prime Minister Simpson Miller and the Jamaican media came as the PAJ observed its annual Journalism Week with a round of activities honouring past and present achievers in the profession and reflecting on the role of the press in society.
The incident with the TVJ reporter occurred after the prime minister had headlined a ceremony in Rose Town in South St Andrew for the dedication of a water and sewer project. The TV footage showed the prime minister walking at the head of a cluster of persons when she was approached by the reporter who asked a question about the project.
The prime minister appeared pleased at the question and began explaining the developmental significance of the US$2-millon project to the people and the affected communities.
However, the mood changed as soon as she was asked to explain her decision to reinstate Richard Azan as minister of state for transport, works and housing despite adverse comment that it sent the wrong message about accountability for his role in the construction of the shops on lands owned by the Clarendon Parish Council without prior approval of the council.
It was a legitimate journalistic question because there had been no previous explanation by the prime minister of the decision; and the tone and manner of the reporter could not properly be labelled as disrespectful or rude.
Mrs Simpson Miller refused to answer the question on the Azan reappointment, and when the journalist pressed a follow-up she called for the journalist to respect her decision to not comment further; the security detail then intervened, shoving the reporter as they cleared a path for the prime minister.
Those responsible for the prime minister's security will always do what they have to do under any circumstances in furtherance of that responsibility.
Based on the televised images it did not appear that the behaviour of the reporter posed a threat; the concern seemed more about the fact that the reporter was seeking to press the prime minister on a matter that she would rather not deal with.
Indeed, it is instructive that Mrs Simpson Miller explained that she would not answer the question because any response to the Azan matter would be the basis for a news story while she wanted the news to be about the Rose Town water and sewer project.
As one of our most experienced and savvy politicians, Mrs Simpson Miller knows only too well that news editors cannot yield their responsibility to make the final decision about which stories will make the news and the prominence they will receive.
She should also have known that the remark would become the story of the night and beyond, rather than the Rose Town development project.
LACK OF ACCESS THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE
Admittedly, Mrs Simpson Miller is perfectly within her right not to answer the question on the Azan matter or to argue that there was nothing wrong with the reinstatement, because the director of public prosecution (DPP) had concluded that the junior minister's action did not rise to the level of any criminal offence.
But that would not give her the right to shut down questioning or to ignore the observations of the Office of Contractor General and the DPP and her own Local Government Minister Noel Arscott that administrative procedures had been violated.
The prime minister should explain her position on that, especially in the context of the position against corruption articulated at her second swearing-in.
The sight of reporters jostling to get close enough to question and record the prime minister can look unseemly and I would prefer if the process was more orderly.
Fundamentally, though, the problem is not about protocol or threat to Jamaica's well-established tradition of a free press. It is about the demonstrable lack of access to the prime minister by members of the media to pose hard questions about the critical issues facing the country on which the prime minister infrequently speaks.
As the PAJ's Ms Campbell noted, the concern of members was about the lack of access to the prime minister to respond to the issues of the day and the absence of press briefings, on- and off-the-record sittings, as well as the granting of in-depth interviews.
Mrs Simpson Miller has stated that she will not talk her way out of power. That is, she will not change a leadership style that has worked for her over many decades. Her considerable political success has been due to her direct contact with the people as the person who will protect their interest. It was not born of media interventions.
In Parliament and outside, Mrs Simpson Miller has often insisted on being treated with the dignity of the office, and her strongest supporters reject criticism and searching questions on controversial public policy issues as sexist or classist because of the humble origin from which she rose, against tremendous odds, to become party leader and Jamaica's first woman prime minister.
But in a democracy based on public accountability, especially of those who exercise State power, the press are not cheerleaders in the service of the powerful in politics, business or any special interest group.
In pursuit of their responsibility to tell the whole story fairly and honestly, reporters will pose the uncomfortable questions whenever and wherever they can. That's their job.
kcr@cwjamaica.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz2mHLMfALL