An opinion piece about Government's axing of advertising with The Royal Gazette has been made available to thousands of newspapers across the United States.

The withdrawal of advertising is currently the headline article on the website of Sunshine Week, the international initiative run by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, which celebrates open government and freedom of information.

The event's organisers approached Royal Gazette editor Bill Zuill to ask him to write a column explaining how Government stopped advertising with this newspaper and axed its subscriptions shortly after we took part in Sunshine Week last March as part of our A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign.

Mr. Zuill's article — which newspapers, websites and bloggers are all invited to reproduce — details how Government has gradually stepped up its hostility since Premier Ewart Brown telephoned him last summer and during a conversation said he was "at war" with The Royal Gazette.

Dr. Brown has repeatedly refused to reveal the methodology behind Cabinet's decision to cut advertising and subscriptions, claiming it was to save money and saying that in the last fiscal year Government spent $800,000 on print media advertising and $42,000 on newspaper subscriptions.

Critics, including Progressive Labour Party MPs, members and supporters, argue the real reason is that Dr. Brown wants to destabilise this newspaper for political reasons.

He has been accused by freedom of speech supporters across the world of using official advertising as a "weapon of reprisal" against this newspaper and attempting to intimidate journalists to avoid writing stories criticising Government.

Organisations standing to benefit from the move toward radio and online advertising include PLP Senator Walton Brown's Bermuda Network News and Government backbencher Glenn Blakeney's Hott 107.5, which Dr. Brown has publicly praised for its pro-PLP bias.

Sunshine Week's website states: "The Royal Gazette in Hamilton, Bermuda, celebrated its first Sunshine Week in 2008. Then the Government pulled its advertising.

"While Government officials maintain the move was part of an overall cost-cutting initiative, Royal Gazette editor Bill Zuill sees it differently."

Linking to the editor's article, it continues: "Zuill's opinion column may be republished by newspapers, websites, bloggers and others."

Mr. Zuill's piece explains how A Right To Know culminated in Sunshine Week, with a Wear Yellow Day in which the public were encouraged to dress to show their support for public access to information.

He outlines Government's "schizophrenic" attitude to the campaign — on the one hand saying it supports PATI and on the other questioning whether it is necessary, while the Premier's Press Secretary Glenn Jones joined PLP Senators David Burch and Thaao Dill on Hott for a 90-minute A Right To Know denigration session on Wear Yellow Day.

"To be sure, relations between the newspaper and the Government have been poor for some time, in part because the governing party believes, wrongly in our view, that this newspaper and its owners support the Opposition party," writes Mr. Zuill.

He refers to Government's attempts to muzzle the press in the Privy Council, and adds: "Around the same time, the Premier told me that he was at war with The Royal Gazette."

Next came the announcement of plans for a press council to make the print media "more mature", followed by the advertising ban, cancellation of a contract for an rg magazine and blocking of Imagine 2009 from collaborating with this newspaper on a book about Bermuda's 400th anniversary — even though there would be no public financial support for that project.

"As editor of the newspaper, this series of events has been difficult," says Mr. Zuill.

"Natural tension between the media and the Government is no bad thing, and in fact should be a very good thing, but the reality that a Government could declare war, figuratively anyway, on a newspaper is a different matter and makes editing a newspaper harder than ever."

Describing Sunshine Week as the straw which broke the camel's back, he vows that the fight for PATI will continue, adding: "See you next year!"

At the same time it announced the advertising ban, Government said it would cut back on its own travel and vehicle fleet.

However, it has made no commitment regarding how much it will save on either, although its travel budget has trebled to more than $7.4 million in a decade.

The Premier said in March he had no numbers for how much is spent on Government cars. He said Works Minister Derrick Burgess was compiling those figures, but no update has since been provided despite requests.

Dr. Brown's private company Bermuda Healthcare Services does not appear to share the Premier's views on the merits of advertising in the Island's only daily.

A few weeks ago, it advertised for a nurse three times in this newspaper, even though immigration policy stipulates it only needed to advertise once.

Asked why his firm had done that, Dr. Brown replied through Mr. Jones: "The manager at Bermuda Healthcare Services has the authority to place advertising wherever she decides. Dr. Brown has no involvement.

"However, now that the issue was brought to light the matter of advertising will be internally reviewed. If the review reveals there are better alternatives for Bermuda Healthcare Services, we will change course."

This newspaper employs more than 100 people, 85 percent of whom are Bermudian, and is the only media organisation on the Island offering formal internal and overseas training to its editorial staff.

The financial loss as a result of Government's move is said to be the equivalent of ten editorial jobs.