No need to get emotional
Minister of Education Omayra Leeflang reacted rather emotionally to criticism by Curaçao’s Association of Journalists “Prensa Uni” on her draft Media Ordinance in the Central Committee of Parliament. The minister felt insulted that the association’s president Samantha Nicolas said the law opened the door to witch hunts against journalists and indirectly accused the minister of infringing on human rights and the fundamental rights of freedom of expression.
Leeflang therefore decided to give back a present Prensa Uni had given her for her speech on the Media Ordinance at the association’s congress. Her argument was that nobody had objected to what she said at the time, while the association’s members all had been given copies of the draft law back then, more than a month ago, and only now reacted to it in such a negative manner in Parliament.
By doing so, the education minister is not setting the right example and only contributes to division over this sensitive law, which not only Prensa Uni has spoken out against, but also several Members of Parliament and media houses including The Daily Herald and the Amigoe newspaper. The latter two have rejected several aspects, such as the possibility of having the minister issue fines and letting government appoint the chairpersons of the media councils.
The minister is correct when she says the draft law has been discussed with stakeholders for some time, but listening to people and actually doing something with their suggestions and objections are two different things. The people at this newspaper who spoke to the committee and commented in writing on the draft in any case did not see their input reflected in the text that is now on the table.
There are also many open questions, such as who would nominate the representatives of the different media sectors, the media workers or the owners? If it is the latter, who will represent the workers, as the draft does not include a representative of, for example, that same Prensa Uni.
While the minister constantly refers to the media law in the Netherlands, the Council of Journalism there has no sanction power and government does not issue fines on its behalf. Instead the council publishes its rulings on alleged abuse by the press in a magazine that is also distributed at journalism schools.
But the point is also that the Dutch Caribbean media are more oriented towards the American system than the Dutch system. There are, for example, no broadcast associations with specific philosophies that are allotted airtime based on their membership, as in the Netherlands.
All in all, the draft law is not just an attempt at self-regulation by the media as claimed, but opens the door to government intervention. Should the media be regulated, it must be from within, as former Kingdom Relations Minister Atzo Nicolaï said in his recent The Daily Herald/University of St. Martin lecture.
A free press is an essential pillar of democracy and must guard against government interference at all times. And if individual media act in an incorrect and unfair matter, they can always be taken to court.
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