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Prime Minister Bruce Golding today reaffirmed his commitment to press freedom and promised that the parliamentary committee dealing with the Constituency Development Fund will remain open to the media. Mr Golding disclosed that he was not aware that the CDF committee had been meeting in private.
Mr. Golding made the comments at the Office of The Prime Minister during a courtesy call by members of the new executive of the Press Association of Jamaica.
“I speak for the government when I say we are committed to a free press,” Prime Minister Golding told PAJ President Jenni Campbell and members of her executive.
He said while the government might sometimes have issues with how stories are reported there was no issue with the media which has developed into a key institution in Jamaica .
Prime Minister Golding also indicated his commitment to push on with proposed libel reform which has been stuck in a parliamentary committee for some time.
The Prime Minister urged the PAJ to have its members take a look at the media output which he noted at times fail to meet the high standards expected and questioned the absence of an entity where members of the public could file complaints when they are wronged by the media.
In response Ms. Campbell noted that the PAJ is continuing its efforts to establish a media complaints council which would be empowered to accept complaints about media entities from members of the public.