Deputy Information Minister for Public Affairs Isaac Jackson has described as “totaling unacceptable unprofessional and unconventional” move by the management of In Profile Daily newspaper to charge US$75 per press release from government ministries and agencies published in the paper.
“We read with total dismiss and shock in the In Profile Daily that it would henceforth charge US$75 for any press release from the government published in the paper. This practice is totaling unacceptable. You do not pay for news anywhere in the World,” Jackson said furiously today at the Ministry of Information regular press briefly.
Minister Jackson told newsmen in Monrovia that despite a meeting held with the management of the daily to reverse its decision, the management of the newspaper says it would go ahead to effect its decision as announced.
“We do not want to be constrained to act; but if we are compelled to act, we will not tolerate this act,” the minister warned.
Minister Jackson pointed out that the decision by the paper has the propensity to deny the public access to critical information from the government.
Meanwhile, Minister Jackson has called on the Press Union of Liberia to intervene in the matter to avoid an already “heated situation from reaching a boiling point.”