Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said the government has made no deal to gain the editorial support of any media house.
After citing the need for more responsible reporting and commentary in the media, Mr. Tibbetts was asked if he thought it justified that several government entities have given public relations work to a sister company of a media house. A marked change in media house’s editorial stance has occurred since then.
Mr. Tibbetts was also asked if he thought it proper for any government entity to attempt to buy the editorial stance of any news media.
‘Absolutely not,’ Mr. Tibbetts responded, adding that he knew which media house to which the question referred.
‘I can only tell you this: there was no deal for that to happen.’
Early last month, the Caymanian Compass reported on public relations work awarded by a government entity to MCM Consultants, a sister company to Cayman Net Ltd, which publishes Cayman Net News.
MCM issued a press release 21 February stating it had entered into an agreement with the Constitutional Review Secretariat to develop and conduct the marketing and communications campaign for the constitutional review process.
Neither MCM nor the Government would say how much MCM was getting paid for the work, although Cabinet Minister Alden McLaughlin denied it was hundreds of thousands of dollars. He also said MCM had only been awarded ‘bits and pieces’ of the public relations exercise for the Constitutional Review Secretariat.
Two other more prominent public relations/marketing companies – BB&P and Cogent Communications Group – confirmed they had not been approached to bid on the work for the Constitutional Review Secretariat.
Prior to announcing it had an agreement with the Constitutional Review Secretariat, Cayman Net News had been critical of the Government’s constitution modernisation process. Only a week before the agreement, it had written an editorial stating ‘the ruling politicians of the day are certainly flirting with concepts that are bound to raise (and, indeed, already have) the spectre of independence…’
Only two weeks earlier in another editorial, Cayman Net News wrote ‘it is rapidly becoming apparent that the timeframe allowed for the constitutional review process is less than adequate.’
Since announcing its contract with the Constitutional Review Secretariat, Cayman Net News has steadily supported the constitutional review process and the Government’s proposals. Simultaneously, it has written many editorials critical of the Opposition’s stance on constitutional modernisation.
Since that time MCM has also coordinated marketing for a campaign to get Caymanian youth to register to vote through the Elections Office. Boatswain’s Beach also informed the Caymanian Compass last month that MCM was handling its public relations.
Speaking about the public relations work done for the Constitutional Review Secretariat by MCM, Mr. Tibbetts said the government did not wish to ostracise any media house.
‘The volume of work that media house has is still less than what any other media houses have, including [Cayman Free Press].
Cayman Free Press, which does commercial printing as part of its business, printed the first run of the Summary of Proposals and Explanatory Notes for the Constitutional Review Secretariat.
Mr. Tibbetts said his statements concerning the need for responsible reporting and commentary should not be taken as an attack on the media or press freedom.
He took particular umbrage with comments made on a radio talk show, which he found irresponsible.
‘This Government respects press freedom but will not remain silent when the media abuse their freedom,’ he said. ‘Peddling misinformation that misleads the public is an abuse of press freedom.’
Related Videos
