Lazie, try to get a copy of the RJR news

[Sickko]

as it relates to the cessation of the post cabinet press briefings....ha ha ha this one is classic.

Talk bout flip flopping..this one sounds like a fish washed up on shore and trying very hard to get back.

I wont even elaborate as I might mis construe what took place...please try and get the tape...even if you have to pay for a tape to be sent.

[Lazie]

Why not give us a summary?

Gov’t under fire for scrapping of post-Cabinet press briefing Tuesday, 18 September 2007 The Bruce Golding-led administration is coming under fire over its decision to cease holding the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing.

Howls of protest have come from the media fraternity and the People's National Party (PNP) which have described the Government's move as a backward step.

Members of the media are up in arms after the Government backtracked on an earlier promise to continue the weekly press briefing, a tradition started by the P.J. Patterson administration in the 1990's.

Minutes after last Friday's swearing-in ceremony Minister of Information Olivia "Babsy" Grange gave the clearest indication that the press briefings would continue.

"I would think so. I don't see us changing that but you will have to allow us time to have our first informal meeting and then our formal Cabinet meeting and then the media will be advised from there," said Ms. Grange.

Despite that assurance Prime Minister Golding announced Monday that the weekly briefing was history.

Addressing media personnel after the first meeting of his Cabinet, Mr. Golding stated that he was against the briefings being held before the weekly sittings of Parliament.

He said while not wanting to muzzle the media, a new procedure would be followed as to how information from Cabinet meetings will be relayed to the media.

"What we propose to do is that Cabinet would meet on a Monday and we intend on the Tuesday, which would be the normal day for the sitting of Parliament, to lay a Parliamentary paper on the Tuesday outlining the decisions that were taken by Cabinet the day before and then use that as a basis that the media can then approach the relevant ministers whose portfolios may have been affected or may have been involved in those decisions for those minister to expand as much as possible," said Prime Minister Golding.

He added that this new procedure would enable parliament to retain its original role of supremacy.

The Prime Minister said he will be making space in his agenda for a monthly meeting with the media.

In the meantime, former Minister of Information Donald Buchanan who held regular weekly post Cabinet press briefings during the previous administration says the Government has made a wrong decision.

He says the new policy has set a bad precedent.

"I think it is a retrograde step. The People's National Party government both under Prime Ministers PJ Patterson and Portia Simpson Miller was very open to the media and the public. I hope that we are not going back to the dark days when information was not available to the public regarding the operations of the government," said Mr. Buchanan.

And the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) has reacted angrily to the decision to end the weekly post Cabinet press briefing.

PAJ President Desmond Richards last night described the move as a retrograde step.

He is also accusing Prime Minister Golding of reneging on an earlier promise to provide timely information on his administration's plans and policies.

He is demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister on the decision not to hold any further weekly press briefings.

[Sickko]

And I keep telling you that the online edition you get does not have the voice cuts which give the items a lot more depth and meaning....

[Mosiah]

So you want us to pay for the other one? Try unnu best!

[Lazie]

And I keep telling you that the online edition you get does not have the voice cuts which give the items a lot more depth and meaning....

Wait, the article I posted was what you were referring to?

[Sickko]

Yep....