The Me­dia As­so­ci­a­tion of T&T (Matt) is view­ing with con­cern re­ports from the news­rooms of both ra­dio sta­tion i95.5 and the TnT Mir­ror news­pa­per of Gov­ern­ment sanc­tions against them in the form of an ad­ver­tis­ing boy­cott. In a re­lease is­sued yes­ter­day by Matt, the as­so­ci­a­tion said it ap­peared that an ad­ver­tis­ing boy­cott against the T&T Mir­ror had been im­posed since June and at­tempts to en­gage in di­a­logue with the Gov­ern­ment have so far come to nought. The ap­par­ent boy­cott is deemed to have been im­posed when the pa­per re­sist­ed Gov­ern­ment pres­sure to drop a sto­ry.

Matt said if such re­ports were true, they con­demn the ac­tion which, they say, can on­ly mean a clam­p­down on the free­dom of ex­pres­sion and of the press. The as­so­ci­a­tion is call­ing on Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar to in­ter­cede since she had giv­en as­sur­ances that her Gov­ern­ment would do noth­ing in­im­i­cal to free ex­pres­sion. Matt is al­so call­ing for di­a­logue be­tween the two me­dia hous­es and the Gov­ern­ment, con­comi­tant with the im­me­di­ate lift­ing of any ad­ver­tis­ing boy­cott.