GIBRALTAR
By Dominique Searle, Editor & Chairman, Gibraltar Chronicle
24 February 2003

Gibraltar's 30,000 population has considerable local and international (mainly UK and Spanish) media access.

The Gibraltar Chronicle 200 years old in 2001 is owned by a trust and bound by a Charter requiring political impartiality and independence from control by any sector (religious, commercial, political etc). It survives as an institution despite long drawn negotiations over an historical tax debt to the Government which would make it technically insolvent. This English language newspaper was the only daily produced in Gibraltar until spring 2002 when the weekly Panorama went daily. The result of that move stirred improvements in the Chronicle and caused no sales losses.

Other local newspapers include privately owned weeklies - The New People and Vox. These tend to focus more, though not exclusively, on views than news. The main internet (only) media is Iberianews. This is fast and nosey but not always accurate.

In terms of television the Gibraltar Government provides a subvention for the operation of the wholly local television and radio station GBC. The stations main news output consists of a radio news bulletin at midday and the 8.30 pm television bulletin. The position of Gibraltar in the EU means that the monopoly of this station - which operates under an apolitical, impartiality charter - is being seriously challenged under liberalisation directives, especially with the rise of small local regional stations in neighbouring Spain. Public opinion is that it has sadly reduced debate and strong interview programmes over the past few years.

The Gibraltar Constitution was reviewed last year but although a proposal has been put to the Constitutional Committee to ease the access and rights to information based on Article 19 proposals in this area, the resulting draft ignores this.

Sadly the question of the relationship between the Gibraltar Government and the pro-Opposition newspaper The New People has not been fully resolved as yet. Its editor Clive Golt has not been invited to any of the Chief Minister's press conferences and the newspaper is not placed the Government press release distribution list. A writ was served on the Government and a court case pending.

The Gibraltar police came under criticism (January 2003) when they arrested 15 Spanish journalists for a day (all but one later released without charge). The journalists had joined 5 Greenpeace activists on a stunt against single hull oil tankers in the Bay of Gibraltar and were involved in a chase at sea. The journalists were kept in police cells and there were counter claims of assault in two cases.