Above: TT Guardian front page for October 05, 2021

On Sunday, October 03, newly installed Media Association president Ira Mathur wrote to the Senate president to request a reconsideration of the rules for media presence during the Budget sitting of Parliament.

This followed on from discourse by the immediate past president, Shiela Rampersad on the matter, which was urgent and demanded some kind of resolution despite the weekend’s change in the executive of MATT.

Colleen Holder, a past media practitioner and the Director, Corporate Communications and Productions of Parliament responded with a clarification on the restrictions, opening the possibility of a pool photographer to be included in the roster.

Advised of this, Express Chief Photographer Robert Taylor took the initiative and guided by the paper’s management, called other photo desks and an agreement was reached to appoint a pool photographer from his team, Ishmael Salandy.

“In hindsight it was also great because of the global FB shutdown,” Taylor explained, “which is where we have received images from the Parliament staff, until they sent the link”

“After sending the photos, I suggested we rotate for the next and subsequent sittings, once permission is granted.”

The Media Association thanks the Parliamentary staff for their consideration and encourages media houses to think collaboratively as well as competitively in the pursuit of delivering value to our shared audiences.