MATT president, Francesca Hawkins

The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago is concerned over what it sees as a new format of the weekly Post-Cabinet news conference adopted by the new People’s National Movement administration.

MATT wants further clarification on the Government’s policy governing communication with the media.

It says Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie has been the only government official present at the briefing for the past few weeks to field questions from reporters.

In a statement yesterday, MATT said, over several administrations, the post-Cabinet press conference has been used as a forum where ministers of government made themselves available, on rotation, to answer the media’s questions on a range of issues related to the sectors under their purview.

It said in the new format, the Minister of Communications alone reports primarily on decisions taken at Cabinet meetings.

It added journalists are left uncertain whether this is an interim arrangement and whether alternative arrangements have been made for regular press briefings with ministers of government.

MATT said the media conference is an important mechanism for government transparency and accountability, two principles that the PNM administration has promised to expand.

MATT said it is the work of journalists to seek answers from ministers and other public officials in the public interest.