Press union cautions against government threat to media

The government has threatened to withhold permits to media institutions because of allegations of serious ethical violations, Deputy Information Officer Milton Teahjay told IRIN on Friday. “The Ministry of Information will be reluctant to renew operation permits to media organisations that have engaged in blackmail and falsehood,” Teahjay said. Certain individuals, including some government officials, have been targeted by journalists demanding money not to write defamatory articles about them, he added. In response, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has advised against any arbitrary action by the government that would result in the withholding of operating permits to media institutions, Malcom Joseph, assistant secretary general told IRIN. “The government must not take the law into its own own hands,” he added. All media organisations are obliged to register annually with the government to receive the required operational permit. “We are not condoning ethical violations. If any institution is in breach of ethical standards then the government has a right to take them to court and follow the due processes of the law,” Joseph said on Friday. The PUL has a membership of some 400 individuals and 23 institutions in Liberia.