UNC: All media houses should be invited to government press conferences

THE Opposition has called on the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to "adhere to the freedom of the press" by not handpicking which media houses can attend press conferences at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's.

This comes days after journalists from independent media houses said they were denied access to Dr Rowley's press conference updating the nation on covid19 last Thursday.

Members of the media who said they were denied access included AZP News editor-in-chief Prior Beharry, Stephen Cummings of Isaac 98.1 FM, and Robert Amar of 104.7 MORE FM.

The Media Association issued a statement asking the OPM to be clear in its criteria for media houses which can send representatives.

“If interested media houses are denied access to question the Prime Minister about his announcements and a list of specially invited media guides invitations, there should be clarity about what qualifies one media house as 'special' over another," it said.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday morning in Port of Spain, Opposition MP Rudranath Indarsingh said all media houses should be given a fair chance of coverage.

"...Whether large, medium-sized (or) small...

"In the interest of true press freedom, unless they do not want to be subjected to thorough examinations and so on, we have to ask: why are media personnel being debarred from having full access to press conferences under the OPM?

"Any time you start to suppress information and debar the press and so on, it is the emergence of a full-fledged dictatorship."

He added that Rowley often chastises and demeans members of the media.