• by Peter Richards (port of spain, trinidad)
• Monday, October 26, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Caribbean media groups have drawn a line in the sand, warning regional governments that they will face strenuous opposition to proposed legislation requiring media workers to obtain a license to practice their profession in the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) grouping.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), the umbrella regional media organisation, says it has no intention of sitting idly by and allowing the plan to take root.

'It is a well-established fact that the licensing of journalists constitutes an outright threat to freedom of the press and other rights,' said ACM president Wesley Gibbings.

'There is also a growing body of international judicial precedents which determines its unlawful nature,' he added, referring to a 1985 case in Costa Rica and 'several other matters that have reached the U.S. courts'.

ACM has invited a senior official of the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat to address its Fifth Biennial General Meeting in Grenada in December on the issue.

The group said it was 'stunned' at the announcement of the imminent introduction of a Model Professional Services Bill to Caricom member states which calls for, among other things, the registration and licensing of media workers.

Timothy Odle, deputy programme manager for services at the Caricom Secretariat, said that the registering and licensing of journalists could become a reality within three to five years.

The bill is meant to 'regularise' and 'harmonise' standards among professionals in a wide range of categories under the ambit of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), which allows for the free movement of goods, skills, services and labour across the 15-member regional grouping.

Gibbings, who attended a media workshop on the CSME in St. Lucia last week, where word of the proposed legislation was first announced, said he has already 'advised that this matter is not subject to negotiation'.

'The ACM is moving quickly to nip this in the bud,' Gibbings said, noting that the ACM would seek support from other regional and international media organisations and human rights groups 'to ensure the model bill, especially as it relates to media workers, does not reach anywhere near our parliaments'.

The ACM sent a copy of the proposed legislation to the London-based ARTICLE 19, a human rights group that defends and promotes freedom of expression and freedom of information all over the world.

Strong disapproval of the proposed legislation has come also from Byron Buckley, president of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), one of the oldest media organisations in the Caribbean.

Buckley described the move by Caricom as a threat to press freedom, noting that the model legislation proposes to, among other things, establish national councils answerable to a minister or a head of government.

'Furthermore, the legislation will empower the minister to direct the Council 'in the public interest because of exceptional circumstances and the council shall comply',' he said.

'The PAJ views this development with grave concern,' said Buckley, noting that 'journalists are simply exercising a public and fundamental right, that is the freedom of expression, and this cannot be subjected to licensing as the model bill suggests'.

He stressed the importance of the watchdog role of journalists in a democratic society, adding that they should not be placed in vulnerable positions in relation to politicians.

The Antigua & Barbuda Media Congress (ABMC) has warned that the new requirements 'could open the door to censorship and interference'.

'If it's going to be a measure to impinge on the freedom of expression by media workers, such a move has to be resisted in the strongest possible way,' said ABMC president Colin James.

The Model Professional Services Bill makes provision for the establishment of a 'Council' in each Caribbean country, whose functions include prescribing the qualification necessary in respect of the profession, monitor adherence to and investigate breaches of the Code of Ethics and 'cause disciplinary proceedings to be taken in accordance with the provisions of this Act'.

In addition, the Council will 'register and license persons who are fit and proper persons and possess the prescribed qualifications and experience'.

The model legislation allows a designated government minister to give 'written directions to the Council concerning any of its functions where the minister is satisfied that it is necessary to give the direction in the public interest because of exceptional circumstances'.

Regarding the registration of journalists, the proposed legislation notes that 'no person shall practise unless he is registered' under the act and 'holds a valid licence issued under this Act'.

It says that where a person wishes to be registered to practise in a Caribbean country, the application must be accompanied by 'proof that the applicant is a fit and proper person to practise in the country and holds a degree granted by an accredited university within the Community' or is the holder of a 'degree granted by an accredited university or school...that in the opinion of the Council, is evidence of satisfactory training.'

The model legislation includes a fine as well as imprisonment as punishment for persons who contravene the legislation or practice without first obtaining a licence.

The announcement of the model legislation comes at a time when Caribbean governments have been accused of seeking to stifle press freedom in their individual countries.

Last month, the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) publicly disagreed with moves by the Patrick Manning government for the media to be held accountable to an independent body, while the Guyana government continues to face criticism over its allocation of state advertising to the local media.

Asked to comment on the proposed Caricom model, Trinidad and Tobago's Attorney General John Jeremie said he was unaware of such legislation.

'I haven't heard anything anywhere...about any draft model professional bill done by Caricom,' he said, indicating that the government would not support such legislation.

'That sounds like one of those urban myths. It is ridiculous,' he added.

Veteran Caribbean journalist Julian Rogers, in a tongue-in-cheek comment on the proposed legislation, said he was making a 'strident' call for Caricom to add a new group of professionals to its list.

'I say let's get on with licensing politicians. I am ready to serve on a panel of journalists to determine which politicians should serve the people of the Caribbean,' he wrote on the ACM web site.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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