International Press Institute (IPI) vice-chair and award-winning Trinidad-born journalist John Yearwood says while this country's press freedom remains "very much alive," local journalists must continue to push for more freedom to practice their profession.Yearwood, also chairman of the IPI North America committee and world editor at the Miami Herald, in an interview with the Sunday Guardian on Thursday, said Government's repeal of criminal defamation was a positive step, but journalists must take charge of their enshrined right to freedom of the press.
"That (repeal) gives you a sense that although the Government does not always listen, it does on some things in helping to advance the cause of press freedom. "But as with everything else, journalists need to continue to push and push for more freedom, and I think that is really, really important. "It is good to see that the Government is involved in helping that, but journalists need not to stop, they need to keep pushing for it," Yearwood contended.
Yearwood, who is orignally from Point Fortin, but is now based in Miami, was in T&T last week for the Association of Caribbean Mediaworkers (ACM) and T&T Publishers and Broadcasters (TTPBA) media workshop on covering elections, at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann's.He said more was needed to be done to protect journalists who are threatened and subjected to abuse and intimidation.This, he said, is really unfortunate. "The intimidation of some journalists, that needs to stop."He hastened to add, that for the most part, the conditions journalists operate under in T&T "is much, much better than in many places around the world."He said the workshop, which featured sessions on understanding the elections process, reporting on election surveys, democracy and journalistic excellence in the Caribbean and media self-regulation, was a good initiative by the ACM and TTPBA.
In fact, Yearwood said while he came to present on issues of press freedom and media self regulation at the workshop, "I ended up learning a lot myself."He said the whole issue of self-regulation has also been raised around the Caribbean, and what is being done regionally on that issue is really important. He said he will take what he has gleaned from the discussions at the workshop to the next IPI board meeting.Yearwood added that T&T has some of the "strongest journalists in the Caribbean" who do really "terrific investigative work," whether it is in television or in print. He stressed that there is a need for the media to self-regulate to ensure press freedom is maintained.While the Government has a role to play, he said "it is not in formulating the regulations by which the media are to be governed."
He said, "The Government should not be doing this (drawing up regulations) on its own without significant input on the part of the media."Yearwood said T&T can look at countries such as Denmark and Australia and review their policies on media regulation which have been successful.He said ombudsmen are used in other parts of the world for media self regulation, and that he was partial to having ombudsmen at media houses in T&T.The ombudsmen, he said, are not only independent parties for journalists to go to for advice and protection, but for the public to seek the same as well.He said the ombudsman was an immediate initiative."It's quick, it does not require government regulation, and it is something that print and broadcast media houses can do on their own. I think it encourages trust on the part of the public with the media houses that undertake to do that. We have seen in Denmark and Bangladesh that (having an ombudsman) has improved the relationship between the public and the media houses," Yearwood said.He added that, "It is clear that this self regulation should be undertaken by the people who are going to be regulated."
Who is John Yearwood?
John Yearwood is currently the world editor at the Miami Herald and is the International Press Institute (IPI) vice-chair and chairman of the (IPI) North American Committee. He is the first African-American to chair the committee in its 63-year history.Under his leadership the World Desk has won numerous awards including the Arthur Ross Award for best coverage of Latin America. Additionally, Yearwood's leadership of the Herald's Haiti earthquake coverage contributed to the newspaper being named as a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news.Yearwood was named one of the 40 most influential African-Americans under 40 in South Florida and one of the 100 most successful Caribbean-Americans in South Florida. He is the recipient of a Miami-Dade County Pillar Award and the Haitian Women of Miami Leadership Award.