Parliament must not limit media freedom

The remarks came in response to a recent move by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Barry Sinanan, to extend the JSCs guidelines governing “live” broadcasting of Parliament, to all media houses.

Independent Senator Mary King yesterday gave Newsday her personal view on the work of the Joint Select Committee on which she had sat. “There are guidelines for the ‘live’ broadcast. I never imagined that the media would be constrained.” King said if something happens in the House and it is newsworthy, the media can’t be forced not to report it.

“You can’t tell a private media house ‘you can’t carry that on your news.’ “From my personal viewpoint, you can’t restrict a private media from something that happened in Parliament, other than the ‘live’ broadcast of the debate.”

Former UNC Senator Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, who was also on the JSC, agreed that the “live” broadcast guidelines did not apply to the general media. “I sat on the committee and we did not discuss any issues like that. We only talked about ‘live’ broadcasts. At no point in time was that discussed.”

Seepersad-Bachan said there was no way that the term “live” broadcasts referred to the press, nor to private broadcasters. “The JSC guidelines would not be applied to TV6 because that is just a delayed broadcast and a report on the Parliament.” She added that if something very contentious occurs in Parliament, the Speaker already has the power to order media houses (along with the Hansard reporters) to strike it from the record. JSC member, Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal opposed Speaker Sinanan’s application of the broadcast guidelines to all media houses in TT.

Moonilal said, “The committee was never told to draft media policy. That was not under the purview of the committee of which I am a member. If the Speaker is saying the rules for the Parliament television channel should apply to the media, he is doing so on his own volition, and I don’t support that.”

Moonilal reiterated that these guidelines were never meant to apply to the non-Parliament media. “For instance, you can’t tell people in the public gallery not to watch a MP sleeping or not to listen to heckling going on in the House. And the media covers Parliament for the public. You can’t impose the same restrictions on them.”

Moonilal further noted that the Speaker has power during the sitting to tell the media to strike certain things off the record.

He said he had reluctantly supported the restrictions imposed on Channel 11’s “live” broadcasts of Parliament. “There was a long debate on whether the proceedings should be carried live, or be delayed. In the end live won out because we felt the public should get the opportunity to see all.”