Regional media organisations question attempted censorship in the Cayman Islands

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: Both the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) and the Associated Press (AP) requested comments from members of the Cayman Islands Government in relation to the Cabinet's ban on advertising in our sister publication Cayman Net News.

The ACM's request was sent directly to the Minister of Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce, Mr McKeeva Bush in a letter dated 12 February, and was signed by their president, Wesley Gibbings.

An organisation of media workers, the ACM is affiliated with international agencies such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange.

The letter refers to the 9 February headline story in Cayman Net News entitled 'Cabinet Bans Net News Ads.' The article reported that the Cabinet had agreed on a directive to ban all government advertising in Cayman Net News.

The ban, ostensibly made by the Cabinet because of insufficient value for advertising in Cayman Net News, came during a time when Mr Bush has been very vocal in his displeasure with articles appearing in this newspaper. Mr Bush was particularly upset with an article that appeared on 2 February entitled 'London Talks Off?' which preempted a press conference later that day in which the constitutional talks were indeed called off.

The ACM noted that if the claims about the advertising ban were true, it "would constitute, prima facie, an attempt to impose a regime of self-censorship on Cayman Net News and to stifle free expression."

The letter went on, "The international media community generally frowns on the use of financial pressures of the type described here to influence editorial policy."

Mr Gibbings cited the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' (IACHR) Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in the letter.

"The exercise of power and the use of public funds by the state, the granting of customs duty privileges, the arbitrary and discriminatory placement of official advertising and government loans; the concession of radio and television broadcast frequencies, among others, with the intent to put pressure on and punish or reward and provide privileges to social communicators and communications media because of the opinions they express threaten freedom of expression, and must be explicitly prohibited by law."

The letter said it sought further information from Mr Bush regarding the claim that appeared in the Cayman Net News article. 

With regard to the request made by AP for a statement on the ad ban, Government Information Services (GIS) advised the news agencies' representative here in Cayman that "the Cabinet will not be putting out a statement in response to your query."

  Back...

  Most popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed

  Printable version