With the exit of Stabroek News, the threat of an even more unaccountable gov't looms large

What this source establishes

In a letter to Stabroek News, a long-standing correspondent, Nestor, bids farewell to the paper as it closes after almost four decades. She describes the letter column as her primary means of civic engagement and argues the closure leaves a void at a moment when allegations of public corruption around gold and oil are rife. She alleges an unwritten agreement between state media and the executive to ignore corruption allegations, and argues the closure makes an already unaccountable government more dangerous. The letter is dated four months before the MV Barima sinking.

The author’s argument, as stated

The closure of Stabroek News removes the main independent space in which Guyanese citizens could hold power to account, and makes an already unaccountable government more dangerous.

Key claims

• Stabroek News had been 'a common feature of Guyanese life' for almost four decades and gave the writer near-daily space in its letter section.
• The writer confirms 'news of Stabroek News' decision to close its doors and cease its operation'.
• The writer says the closure comes at a period when 'allegations of massive public corruption are rife' and gold and oil 'appear to be either corruptly exploited or used as personal political bargaining chips'.
• The writer alleges 'an unwritten agreement between the state media and the executive to cover up or ignore allegations of public corruption in government'.
• The writer describes this as 'the last letter' and says the paper 'provided a space for me when the state media effectively shut me out'.
• CONTEXT NOTE: this source is archived because it documents the disappearance, four months before the MV Barima disaster, of the letter column and editorial voice that would ordinarily have carried a large share of Guyanese public debate on such an event.

Quotations

• “With the exit of Stabroek News, the threat of an even more unaccountable government looms large.”— Lurlene Nestor, letter writer
• “There seems to be an unwritten agreement between the state media and the executive to cover up or ignore allegations of public corruption in government.”— Lurlene Nestor, letter writer

Actors named

• Lurlene Nestor, letter writer
• Stabroek News, newspaper closing after almost four decades
• Guyanese state media, which the writer says shut her out

This page is a research summary prepared for comment and review. It is not the article. Copyright in the original remains with Stabroek News; the full text is held only in the private research corpus from which this archive was compiled. Follow the link above to read it at the source.