MATT concerned about PM's refusal to answer questions

THE Media Association is concerned with the Prime Minister’s refusal on Saturday to answer questions from Newsday journalist Darren Bahaw at the press conference at Piarco airport.

Bahaw tried to ask Dr Rowley if he had done any due diligence before appointing Reginald Armour, SC, as Attorney General earlier this year.

Rowley, however, refused to answer the question and instead berated Bahaw for his coverage of a court matter involving the PM, almost 15 years ago, and for a headline carried in another newspaper which Bahaw worked for at the time.

The exchange between the PM and Newsday journalist Darren Bahaw pic.twitter.com/Fdq3FWinPE

— Kejan Haynes (@KejanHaynes) July 2, 2022

As Bahaw persisted with his question, an official from the Prime Minister's communications team took away the mic from the Newsday journalist and told him he could not ask any more questions.

MATT, in a press release on Sunday, said it is vital that officials remain aware of the power imbalance implicit in their positions and those of journalists, who question them privately and at press conferences, in the public's interest.

The media body said that when press conferences turn personal, there is the potential for the creation of "a chilling effect" in the form of self-censorship of the journalistic cross-examination of issues in the public interest.

"MATT stands by media practitioners’ duty to press home questions with officials in the public and private sector, and to expect that civility will govern discourse on matters of national concern on both sides."