Members of the media through the Guyana Press Association joined women rights activists in a protest outside the state-owned National Communications Network on Tuesday midday.

The protest came just hours before a schedule meeting between the GPA Executive and the Chief Executive Officer of NCN over the network’s decision to suspend a sports editor without pay for a month over a Facebook post and the removal of the NCN News Anchor, Natasha Smith, from the anchor’s chair reportedly over her pregnancy.

GPA Executive Member, Nazima Ragubir said that while the Press Association is not a union, it still reserves the right to represent members of the media and the Association believes that the two issues at NCN were enough to trigger the picketing exercise and a meeting with the NCN Management. She said good sense should be allowed to prevail on both issues.

In a press statement on Monday evening, NCN defended its suspension of Sports Editor, Jocelle Archibald and denied reports that the News Anchor, Natasha Smith, was removed over her pregnancy. Smith in a statement of her own, said she was told to wear “bigger clothes” by the Editor on the instruction of management and the cameramen told her they were instructed to take tight (close up) shots of her from the breast up, while she anchored the news.

Veteran journalist and GPA Executive Member, Denis Chabrol who was also on the picket line today, told News Source that NCN needs to reverse the suspension of Archibald because “it is too burdensome”. He said Archibald has apologised over her Facebook statement and that should have been enough in wake of an absence of any clear social media policy.

With regards to Natasha Smith’s removal from the anchor’s chair, Chabrol reminded that “it is not a crime to be pregnant and therefore she should not in any way be penalized or be discriminated against, because of her expected state”.

Women’s Rights Activist and Member of the Women and Gender Rights Commission, Nicole Cole, said NCN Management has trampled on the rights of a woman when the decision was made to remove her from the news set because of her pregnant state. She said it was close to two years ago that she fought against the city council’s decision to fire two constables because they were pregnant, so she never thought she would have been back on the picket line with a protest for a woman who may have been discriminated against because of her pregnancy.

“She has a right to be pregnant. And he doesn’t like how she looks? Then close your eyes and go to sleep during that period”, she offered as advice to the NCN Chief Executive Officer.

In her statement on the issue, Natasha Smith said she was taken aback and surprised over the move to move her, since during a previous pregnancy, she was allowed to carry on her job functions. She said she was told by a senior NCN official that the management of the network did not like how she looks on the newscast during her pregnancy.

A number of government and opposition Members of Parliament have voiced their strong objection to the NCN move.

Related posts:

President roasts NCN over “inhumane” suspension of Sports Editor and “Out of Place” removal of pregnant anchor GPA calls on NCN Chairman and OPM to probe NCN operations as network reverses decision on pregnant anchor but maintains suspension of sports editor Press Association to meet with NCN Chief over removal of pregnant Anchor and suspension of Sports Editor NCN suspends Sports Editor without pay over Facebook post about colleague’s Pokémon question