by TRACY MOORE

THE BARBADOS ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS (BAJ) is urging a speedier processing of the Freedom of Information Act and Defamation Act so that media workers can work in a "freer and more friendly" environment.

Interim president Amanda Lynch-Foster made the plea on Thursday night at the inaugural Clennell Wickham Memorial Lecture at Frank Collymore Hall.

"We dream that our journalists can work in an environment that is freer and more friendly towards journalists - with a Freedom of Information Act that is fact and not draft, with integrity legislation that will allow us to uncover that which has traditionally been hidden and a more liberal Defamation Act that will finally allow us to use the public interest defence.

"Because what we do is in the public's interest. I know the armies of the armchair cynics are on the march these days - across the blogs and the call-in programmes, decrying and denigrating our profession, even though they have never picked up a pen or a tape recorder or a camera, but I still hold that the majority of journalists in Barbados work in the interest of the public," she said.

Under the chairmanship of Senator Orlando Marville, a committee has produced the draft for the revised Freedom of Information Act. The legislation prescribes rules that enable public access to information or records held by Government bodies.

It also defines legal process requiring Government information to be available to the public. Many countries constitutionally guarantee the right to access information with supporting legislation.

A basic principle behind most Freedom of Information legislation puts the burden of proof on the body being asked for the information, not the person asking for it. If the information is not disclosed, a valid reason has to be proffered.

The present Defamation Act that came into effect on August 15, 1997, replacing the old libel and slander laws, will be amended.

Lynch-Foster noted that journalists work in the public interest as "no one would work the hours we work and for the notorious level of wages we work [for] out of purely financial interest".

"I am not ashamed to say that we are motivated by something higher and our profession is a noble one," she added.

Veteran journalists Tony Vanterpool, Robert Best, Eric Nurse, Charles Harding and Karin Dear were also honoured at the lecture as the first five journalists to be inducted into the BAJ Hall of Fame. (TM)

* tracymoore@nationnews.com