THE Government is using taxpayer-owned Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) as a political plaything.
The PNM administration is broadcasting its political meetings without paying a dollar to the heavily subsidised television company.
In addition, the State broadcaster is carrying the party’s and government’s messages on its newscasts and online services as pure propaganda.
Government press releases are reported without the journalistic rigour that media houses customarily exercise.
Notably, media organisations and prominent journalists are silent on the political abuse of an entity that costs taxpayers some $25 million a year.
TTT and its radio stations are routinely called upon to broadcast PNM political meetings and Government functions.
Senior officials of both the government and the ruling party make verbal requests for the airing of events, an in-the-know source said.
Neither the relevant government ministry nor the party is ever billed for the broadcasts.
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) previously confirmed to a Standing Finance Committee meeting of Parliament that political broadcasts were aired free of charge.
Opposition parliamentarian Saddam Hosein said then that the matter “reeks of bias and backroom political machinations.”
The practice of free broadcasts has existed throughout the term of office of the Rowley administration, the informed source revealed.
TTT, which has the lowest audience of any national broadcaster according to an independent survey, relies on State subsidies.
The broadcaster, which was re-commissioned with great fanfare in 2018, has not made a profit in a single year of its existence.
The authorities co-opted TTT to broadcast its events and air its messages after the Government Information Services Ltd. (GISL) was shut down in May 2017.
That closure placed some 60 workers on the breadline.
While the PNM is granted free air-time, the political opposition has complained about the lack of access to the taxpayer-funded entity.
There are no broadcasts of UNC meetings and limited reporting of its views on newscasts or on digital platforms.
Coverage of an address by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to the Divali Nagar festival last October was aborted through a mysterious break in transmission.
TTT never provided a comprehensive explanation for the disruption.
Sceptics blamed sabotage.
When the PNM demitted national office on 2010, it left a bill of almost $1 million for unpaid broadcasts.
The party never responded to repeated requests for payments.
Years later, party leader Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley publicly acknowledged the debt.
The rampant use of TTT for political messaging is sparking fresh calls for the closure of the operations, especially in a marketplace of several national broadcasters.
A large number of free-to-air and cable television stations scramble for viewing audience and commercial advertising.
Surveys have found that most viewers are opting for streaming services like Netflix, Paramount, Hulu, Peacock and Prime.
There are no official figures in Trinidad and Tobago, but traditional TV networks in the United States are experiencing sharp declines in viewership and revenue.
Several broadcasters, including CNN, are reducing staff.
TTT and the attendant radio stations are expected to provide free broadcasts to PNM during the emerging general election period.
