Government to hold meeting with media

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government, insisting it is committed to facilitating the media in its work, Monday said it would hold discussions with the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) and other media stakeholders “on the matter of protocols governing media interviews with the Prime Minister”. The announcement by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) follows criticism by the PAJ over what it termed the deliberate efforts to shield Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller from facing answering questions from the media on current and controversial national issues. . The Jamaica Government Information Service (JIS) said there had been recent encounters where journalists seeking impromptu interviews with the Prime Minister have been doing so in a manner that physically impedes the Prime Minister’s movements, “and where recording and audio equipment have been thrust dangerously at the Prime Minister creating serious concerns among the Prime Minister’s security staff.