Libel report OK'd

The House of Representatives yesterday approved a report from a joint select committee on the review of Jamaica's libel laws.

During the debate on the resolution, government minister Dr Horace Chang, the member of parliament for North West St James, said the proposed amendment to the country's defamation laws was intended to protect freedom of expression and not necessarily freedom of the press.

"Freedom of expression is not synonymous with a free press, as the press in the modern world is not free but very much part of the business elite," Chang said.

He added: "The press today is not the young, bright and sometimes attractive professionals gracing the media box. It is as much the grey-suited, often little-known directors and owners that can be found in any boardroom."