FOCUS ON THE AMERICAS - International Press Institute

Right: Haitians throw ballots into the air after frustrated
voters destroy electoral material during a protest in a
voting center in Port-au-Prince, November 28, 2010.
(REUTERS)
Below: A young studio cameraman in Trinidad. (Photo
courtesy Wesley Gibbings/ACM)
including the abolition of criminal defamation
and the inclusion of a provision for innocent
dissemination/responsibility for
publication in the case of “subordinate distributors”
of published material.
Criminal defamation continues to exist on
the statute books of Caribbean countries
and the offence has been applied in
Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda within
recent years. The ACM has lobbied for its
removal from the statutes books.
There is also concern in Jamaica over provisions
of the 1911 Official Secrets Act,
amended in 1989, which have posed a
threat to acts of whistle-blowing by persons
including, in 2010, a former police
commissioner, who claimed to have information
on contentious issues related to the
extradition of an alleged drug kingpin,
whose eventual capture involved police
and army raids that claimed 70 lives. State
officials were said to be examining the Act
for possible breaches by former Police
Commissioner, Hardley Lewin.
Turmoil in Haiti following the devastating
January 12 earthquake that claimed close
to 300,000 lives, including 31 journalists,
and caused widespread destruction, greatly
affected prospects for a viable media industry
in the country. One leading press freedom
advocate and journalist, Joseph
Guyler Delva, faced a possible death threat
when persons he had worked to have imprisoned
for the 2005 murder of Jacques
Roche escaped from their crumbling prison
at the time of the earthquake. Delva, a former
assistant general-secretary of the ACM
has issued an international appeal for the
rehabilitation of damaged media infra-
structure in Haiti, a situation he says could
lead to the demise of the industry as a viable
part of the Haitian landscape.
The July installation of former coup leader
Desi Bouterse as president of Suriname*
led to concern among some media practitioners
in the South American republic.
This was especially so since his appointment
involved, by constitutional dictat, the
suspension of longstanding criminal proceedings
against him for the execution of
15 persons, including five journalists, in
1982 at the height of a coup d’état.
Journalists have, in recent years, cited political
pressure and the influence of persons
involved in the drugs trade as playing a role
in the promotion of self-censorship in the
Surinamese media.
In most countries of the region, unstable
economic conditions and narrow advertising
revenue bases have led to development
of a propensity for self-censorship.
Because the state, in most cases, is the single
largest contributor to advertising revenue,
political and commercial concerns
often converge to promote an environment
in which news and information not
supportive of official programs is suppressed.
Concentration of ownership in
the media and overlapping commercial
concerns also play a role in determining
the news agenda in many cases.
In the face of the deepening financial crisis,
economic reconstruction, the debilitating
impact of the narcotics trade, and
growing violence and crime, the prognosis
is for further encroachments on the turf of
civil liberties.
As the scenario unfolds, the specter of
devastation by natural disaster also looms
as a major threat to media development in
the region. January’s earthquake in Haiti
and the annual impact of hurricane
events on media infrastructure provide a
stark backdrop to the already challenging
official environment.
IPI Contributor
Trinidadian journalist Wesley Gibbings, a poet and
member of IPI, is serving his second consecutive
term as president of the Association of Caribbean
Media Workers (ACM).
* Suriname and Guyana are geographically located in South America but have been included in the Caribbean overview because of
their close cultural ties to the region
The Caribbean
The Bahamas
By Alison Bethel McKenzie
While the Commonwealth of
The Bahamas, an archipelago consisting of
700 islands and keys just off the coast of
the United States, guarantees freedom of
speech and of the press in its constitution,
there remain serious concerns about selfcensorship
and government influence on
the media.
And while the constitution
calls for a free media, it also
notes exceptions that limit
freedom of expression, most
notably, “in the interests of defence, public
safety, public order, public morality or
public health” or “for the purposes of protecting
the rights, reputations and freedoms
of other persons”.
The Bahamas has four independent daily
newspapers and one tabloid produced
twice weekly, the majority of which are
produced in the capital of Nassau. There is
one national television station – ZNS – and
the state-owned Bahamas Information
Services. Other television stations are
major networks from the United States. The
Bahamian government owns the majority
of the country’s radio stations, but there are
two privately-owned stations. In addition,
there are two online-only newspapers.
The Bahamas Christian Council continues
to carry heavy weight on what programming
is allowed on the national cable
channel – Cable Bahamas - and has barred
any programming involving issues of homosexuality.
In January, the editor of the Freeport News
on Grand Bahama Island, said he was fired
from the newspaper, which is owned by
the Nassau Guardian, because of an editorial
he wrote criticizing Prime Minister
Hubert Ingraham. Former editor Oswald
Brown told the Bahamas Journal at the
time, “It becomes a dangerous situation
when a newspaper starts to censor what a
journalist writes. The whole press freedom
goes down the drain like this …”
In April 2010, the government said it would
renew efforts to pass a Freedom of Information
Act “to enhance transparency and
accountability” and to “provide the Bahamian
people and the media with greater
access to government decision-making and
actions.” The lack of a Freedom of Information
Act has meant limited, even non-exis-
While the constitution calls for a free
media, it also notes exceptions.
tent, access to information for reporters.
According to media reports, advocates of
the law say it will help reduce scandals and
cases of corruption that come to light only
years after they occur.
In August, Prime Minister Ingraham told
members of the press that the Freedom of
Information Act would become law while
the ruling Free National Movement is in
power. Elections will be held in 2012.
Reports of government pressure on the
media continue and press freedom could
be jeopardized with monopolization of
the print media. There are no laws in The
Bahamas preventing monopolization of
the media.
Criminal defamation in The Bahamas is
covered by the Penal Code, which calls for
six-month imprisonment for those convicted
of “negligent libel” and imprisonment
of two years for those convicted of
“intentional libel.” The law also allows for
a two-year prison sentence for publishers
who libel government officials.
Recommendations
• The government should move swiftly to
finally pass the long-awaited Freedom of
Information Act.
• Defamation should be decriminalized.
• Government must treat all media equally
when publishing government advertising.
84 IPI REVIEW
IPI REVIEW 85