PAJ still concerned about post-cabinet press briefings

The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) wants the Andrew Holness-led government to commit to holding regular post-Cabinet press briefings.

The PAJ says these briefings should be schedule for a fixed day and time every week.

Further, the association says it is concerned that the government is reviewing the format of the briefings.

The PAJ was responding to Thursday's announcement by the government that post-Cabinet press briefings will resume on Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

The PAJ and others in the society have criticised the government over the lack of press briefings which have been absent since November 2017.

While welcoming the announcement, the PAJ says it still has several concerns which need to be addressed by the administration.

“We question why briefings cannot be held every time there is a Cabinet meeting, as we maintain that in a democratic society it is necessary for the press to interact regularly with and ask questions directly of the government,” the PAJ said in a statement.

“We regard the format to have been adequate for the purpose, and are particularly concerned about the prospect that the briefings could be led by a non-Cabinet government spokesperson, who may not have authority to answer questions on certain issues emanating from Cabinet,” the association added.

The PAJ also complained about the lack of interviews with the media by Prime Minister Holness.

“We also take the opportunity to raise concerns about the administration’s policy of generally limiting media interviews with the Prime Minister to one day a year, the so-called “Media Day”.  Our media houses have all put in requests to the Office of the Prime Minister over the past two years, and the general approach of the OPM in channeling all requests to this one day of the year has resulted in limiting rather than increasing access to the Prime Minister” the PAJ contended.

FULL STATEMENT

While welcoming the announcement that post-Cabinet press briefings will resume on Wednesday, July 11, 2018, we have several concerns that remain and that we believe need to be addressed by the administration.

Even while the press briefings were being held last year and the year before, they were not regular, and would sometimes not be held for weeks at a time.

We therefore call for the administration to commit to holding these briefings regularly, and preferably to schedule the briefings for a fixed day and time every week, and as soon as possible after the Cabinet meetings, so that media houses are able to properly deploy their reporters.

We question why briefings cannot be held every time there is a Cabinet meeting, as we maintain that in a democratic society it is necessary for the press to interact regularly with and ask questions directly of the government.

We are concerned about the announcement that the administration is reviewing the format of the briefings. We regard the format to have been adequate for the purpose, and are particularly concerned about the prospect that the briefings could be led by a non-Cabinet government spokesperson, who may not have authority to answer questions on certain issues emanating from Cabinet.

Although social media is a convenient way for the government to get its message out, we strongly reject the assertion by Information Minister Senator Ruel Reid in an interview on POWER 106 on June 27, 2018 that social media in any way serves as a substitute for interaction with the press.

We also reject the idea posited by the Information Minister in that same interview that a quarterly press briefing by the Prime Minister, which is necessarily limited in time, can in any way be a substitute for a weekly press briefing, on matters of concern that arise from time to time.

The current situation with Petrojam is a fitting example of a critical issue facing the country about which there have been no press briefings so far.

We also take the opportunity to raise concerns about the administration’s policy of generally limiting media interviews with the Prime Minister to one day a year, the so-called “Media Day”.  Our media houses have all put in requests to the Office of the Prime Minister over the past two years, and the general approach of the OPM in channeling all requests to this one day of the year has resulted in limiting rather than increasing access to the Prime Minister.

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