NOT too long ago, perhaps a week ago, a certain stately gentleman was proudly showing his garden.
He was marveling at his crops, fawning over his flora and fauna, celebrating his successes and relishing the calmness around him.
Then out of nowhere a dark cloud of questions and speculation swept over the man. The media, like a biblical swarm of raging locust, tore through his prized bushes and ripped his peace to shreds, calling for more answers about his meeting with the Venezuelan VP and demands for his Minister of National Security to beat the road.
The man felt victimised and betrayed. The media, whom not too long ago covered his Covid-19 victories had now stabbed him in the back, critising him for his silence on the whole Delcy Rodriguez, Rio Treaty, Venezuelan fiasco.
So what happens when you back an animal in a corner? They snap! Teeth bared, fists swinging, legging kicking! And boy did Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley snap on Thursday’s post Cabinet news conference.
To eloquently quote the PM, “One media house is owned by a business conglomerate that has interests and the Government has taken decisions that are unfavorable to their interest.
The other one has business with the State which the government is not facilitating. And then, obviously, the government is making enemies because they have interests to protect.
We have interests to protect and that interest is the people of TT.
Their interest is to protect their financial bottom line and on many occasions the Government stands in the way.”
Wow! Those are fighting words!
The government and media have a historically complicated relationship. At times they are the best of friends and at times they are arch nemesis. It all depends on the situation and the timing.
In this case the media felt they were not getting the adequate answers to questions regarding the Venezuelan VPs visit and the Government felt the media was just digging around a non-issue and believed the information they had disclosed was enough.
The media has the duty to question and to provide answers to issues that impact the population.
Regarding government policies and politics in general, this questioning and investigating may not always shine favourably on the government at the time.
As such, our PM is not the first and surely will not be the last politician to openly criticise or question the media’s integrity and alliances.
Former prime ministers Basdeo Panday, Eric Williams and George Chambers have all openly attacked the media.
During my days as a reporter, former Minister of Workers and Transportation Jack Warner accused me of trying to “stir up trouble” when I asked him a FIFA related question. Truthfully I wasn’t trying to start anything other than ensuring the people of TT that their newly elected minister had some shred of accountability.
The fact that we are in an election year makes politicians a little extra touchy when it comes to the media. They know a single piece of bad press can crush their chances of leadership. So by trying to discredit or malign the media, they effectively cause some segments of the population to do the same.
And this folks is incredibly dangerous. The media, whether owned by a large conglomerate or run as an independent business, are a corner stone of democracy. They are the link between the government and the people. To try to destroy the population’s trust of the media is to create a state of confusion, to remove accountability and essentially an attempt to de-educate and blind the people.
Despite the accusations and conspiracy theories, they strive to be as balanced as possible.
However, with most things in life, balance in subjective to the reader or listener. Where one news piece may seem extremely fair to one person, it will seem extremely bias to another.
Where I think people, including our Prime Minister and other members of the Government, get confused is the difference between a news report and an opinion based editorial column.
FACT:AZPNews.com in many cases does not hold the same views of most of the crap I expel on a weekly basis. But as a media outlet it allows a variety of views as it should do.
Editorial columns are often reflective of the writers’ personal views, independent from the balanced, fact based news reports.
Some editorial columns are there to educate, to create discussion, to provoke thought and my case to provide some level of reasonably intelligent entertainment.
Whereas I try to stay as diplomatic as possible, some opinion writers have much more testicular fortitude or are bold in their biases, regardless it needs to be remembered their words are the opinion of the writer not the whole damn news company.
As I said before, this is not the first time the media has been attacked and it will not be the last. The media will always go from hero to zero and back again in the blink of an eye depending on the subjective views of the public.
I am sure there are some corruptible journalists out there with agendas, but honestly they get weeded out fast and majority of news journalists aren’t paid enough to care about the government’s feelings.
If we are talking about protecting the interests of the public, one of the most important interests that needs to be protected is their access to information. Information via the media that allows them to make decisions, form opinions and be educated.
To create distrust in the media due to subjective understanding is the opposite if working with their interest in mind.
Commentary: Protecting Our Interests
NOT too long ago, perhaps a week ago, a certain stately gentleman was proudly showing his garden.
He was marveling at his crops, fawning over his flora and fauna, celebrating his successes and relishing the calmness around him.
Then out of nowhere a dark cloud of questions and speculation swept over the man. The media, like a biblical swarm of raging locust, tore through his prized bushes and ripped his peace to shreds, calling for more answers about his meeting with the Venezuelan VP and demands for his Minister of National Security to beat the road.
The man felt victimised and betrayed. The media, whom not too long ago covered his Covid-19 victories had now stabbed him in the back, critising him for his silence on the whole Delcy Rodriguez, Rio Treaty, Venezuelan fiasco.
So what happens when you back an animal in a corner? They snap! Teeth bared, fists swinging, legging kicking! And boy did Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley snap on Thursday’s post Cabinet news conference.
Like a pressure cooker releasing steam, Prime Minister Rowley exploded and dove head first into the there is no free media spiel. He pointed out two media houses owned by large conglomerates, Guardian Media Ltd and One Caribbean Media, which are currently holding a grudge against him and the Government.
To eloquently quote the PM, “One media house is owned by a business conglomerate that has interests and the Government has taken decisions that are unfavorable to their interest.
The other one has business with the State which the government is not facilitating. And then, obviously, the government is making enemies because they have interests to protect.
We have interests to protect and that interest is the people of TT.
Their interest is to protect their financial bottom line and on many occasions the Government stands in the way.”
Wow! Those are fighting words!
The government and media have a historically complicated relationship. At times they are the best of friends and at times they are arch nemesis. It all depends on the situation and the timing.
In this case the media felt they were not getting the adequate answers to questions regarding the Venezuelan VPs visit and the Government felt the media was just digging around a non-issue and believed the information they had disclosed was enough.
The media has the duty to question and to provide answers to issues that impact the population.
Regarding government policies and politics in general, this questioning and investigating may not always shine favourably on the government at the time.
As such, our PM is not the first and surely will not be the last politician to openly criticise or question the media’s integrity and alliances.
Former prime ministers Basdeo Panday, Eric Williams and George Chambers have all openly attacked the media.
During my days as a reporter, former Minister of Workers and Transportation Jack Warner accused me of trying to “stir up trouble” when I asked him a FIFA related question. Truthfully I wasn’t trying to start anything other than ensuring the people of TT that their newly elected minister had some shred of accountability.
The fact that we are in an election year makes politicians a little extra touchy when it comes to the media. They know a single piece of bad press can crush their chances of leadership. So by trying to discredit or malign the media, they effectively cause some segments of the population to do the same.
And this folks is incredibly dangerous. The media, whether owned by a large conglomerate or run as an independent business, are a corner stone of democracy. They are the link between the government and the people. To try to destroy the population’s trust of the media is to create a state of confusion, to remove accountability and essentially an attempt to de-educate and blind the people.
Despite the accusations and conspiracy theories, they strive to be as balanced as possible.
However, with most things in life, balance in subjective to the reader or listener. Where one news piece may seem extremely fair to one person, it will seem extremely bias to another.
Where I think people, including our Prime Minister and other members of the Government, get confused is the difference between a news report and an opinion based editorial column.
FACT: AZPNews.com in many cases does not hold the same views of most of the crap I expel on a weekly basis. But as a media outlet it allows a variety of views as it should do.
Editorial columns are often reflective of the writers’ personal views, independent from the balanced, fact based news reports.
Some editorial columns are there to educate, to create discussion, to provoke thought and my case to provide some level of reasonably intelligent entertainment.
Whereas I try to stay as diplomatic as possible, some opinion writers have much more testicular fortitude or are bold in their biases, regardless it needs to be remembered their words are the opinion of the writer not the whole damn news company.
As I said before, this is not the first time the media has been attacked and it will not be the last. The media will always go from hero to zero and back again in the blink of an eye depending on the subjective views of the public.
I am sure there are some corruptible journalists out there with agendas, but honestly they get weeded out fast and majority of news journalists aren’t paid enough to care about the government’s feelings.
If we are talking about protecting the interests of the public, one of the most important interests that needs to be protected is their access to information. Information via the media that allows them to make decisions, form opinions and be educated.
To create distrust in the media due to subjective understanding is the opposite if working with their interest in mind.
Some other commentaries by Alicia Chamely: