PAJ convenes advisory council to tackle press freedom issues

THE PRESS Association of Jamaica (PAJ) on Wednesday activated its advisory council which is mandated to respond to overt or covert threats to press freedom or related issues.

Such issues, according to the media watchdog, will include political interference, police response to journalists at crime scenes, personal attacks and implied or expressed threats to media houses and/or media practitioners.

The PAJ noted that, in recent months, there has been an increase in threats against its members.

There were also instances where public officials expressed views that suggest a growing discomfort with the guaranteed freedom of expression (the press) that we currently enjoy under the Jamaican Constitution.

The council, chaired by veteran journalist and former Gleaner Editor-in-Chief, Wyvolyn Gager, on Wednesday reviewed statements made by member of parliament for South West St Catherine, Everald Warmington, regarding media treatment of parliamentary committee meetings being held on the Constituency Development Fund.

Other members of the council are Earl Moxam, Vernon Davidson, Carmen Tipling, Dionne Jackson-Miller, Garfield Grandison, Cliff Hughes, Lloyd B. Smith, Garfield Myers, Jennifer Grant and Ben Brodie.