Business Report article a generalisation - govt

A newspaper report accusing ministers of being disrespectful towards the media was based on "generalisation" and was unfortunate, the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) said.

It was reacting to an article published by Independent Newspapers' Business Report section last Friday in which ministers are accused of being disrespectful towards the media by being late without reasonable explanations. (See Ministers show a disregard for journalists' time.)

The article further claimed that this was the culture in government communication.

But in a statement, the GCIS said whilst noting the frustration of the journalist, it viewed the article as nothing but generalisation.

"We are mindful of the pressures that reporters are under as they work towards meeting their deadlines and we appreciate this. Importantly, we also strive at all times to display a high level of professionalism when we interact with members of the media," it said.

The work of government was enhanced by good and effective communication.

"It is therefore not in our interest to deliberately disrespect the work we do".

Government would continue to remain true to the mandate of communicating the benefits of the country's young democracy to the citizens will continue to take every step to improve areas of weakness, said the statement.

"As a caring public service in communication, we undertake to constantly seek ways to improve so as to serve the members of the public ...government communication seeks at all times to operate in a professional manner".