By Prior Beharry
THE Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) has described Trinidad born American-based rapper Nicki Minaj doxxing of local reporter Sharlene Rampersad as “celebrity gangsterism.”
A release by outgoing president of MATT Dr Sheila Rampersad on Saturday stated, “Nicki Minaj’s celebrity gangsterism towards Guardian Media Ltd’s (GML) reporter, Sharlene Rampersad, is textbook cyberbullying and intimidation of a free press in a young democracy.”
Dr Rampersad’s comments come in the wake of Twitter and Instagram deleting Minaj’s posts that threatened the reporter saying “her days are (expletive) numbered.”
The saga started on Monday when the rapper, whose real name in Onika Maraj-Petty, posted on Twitter that her cousin’s friend in Trinidad had become impotent after taking the Covid-19 vaccine and his fiancée left him.
The tweet went viral and international and local media houses have been trying to track down and verify if the contents of the tweet were true.
Rampersad, the reporter who is not related to MATT’s president, had initially tweeted about the issue stating: “When you use your international platform to spread lies, you hurt us. We aren’t some island fantasy you get to bring up if you’re bored. 1,391 people have died from Covid-19 here. Leave us alone now.”
Minaj had replied, “Leave my family alone, you (expletive) goof. Deal with me. Y’all don’t want me to say what I know. U can bully them but deactivated when I got involved. Clown.”
Rampersad also deactivated some of her social media accounts after Minaj posted her phone number online.
The reporter had also sent WhatsApp messages to a relative of Minaj asking for an interview about her initial tweet on Monday.
Dr Rampersad said, “While Ms Minaj may be justified in calling for scrutiny of the journalist’s methods—that is, stoking the fears of an ordinary citizen caught, through no action of his own, in the maelstrom of an international story—the rapper’s doxxing and cussing are extreme reactions that should concern those closest to her. Sensational as this story may be, it is but a global amplification of the relentless intimidation of T&T journalists that has become routine.”
She said there is hardly as T&T journalist or newsroom that has not been the subject of profuse cyberbullying, physical assault, ridicule, mockery, threats, police action, intimidation or trolling.
De Rampersad said, “The silence of institutions and the public has fueled this danger, despite calls from MATT since 2015 for increased protection of journalists.
“A current illustration is the ongoing denigration of GML’s Business Editor Curtis Williams—and whistleblowers—as he covers significant public-interest concerns at the National Gas Company (NGC).”
She said, “Other journalists can recount multiple examples of intimidation. GML’s statement against the cyberbullying of Ms Rampersad is a welcome intervention from her employer.
“If one good can be realised from Ms Minaj’s meltdown, it is the international focus created by the rapper on questions about control of information, restrictions on free speech, and scrutiny of the mainstream media’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Ms Minaj’s original post resonates with anxieties of people around world who feel they are not being told the whole story about either virus or vaccine and who see the media as complicit in manipulating information.
“Public distrust is answered by mandates and other impositions, further alienating populations and generating greater distrust.”
The MATT president cited the contribution of Independent Senator Anthony Viera in the Senate on Friday when he asked about the use of the drug Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 patients.
Quoting Viera, Dr Rampersad said, “Why is information being distorted, suppressed and dismissed?”
She said, “This ugly episode touches many important issues in contemporary journalism, among them the role of journalists themselves in serving the public with diverse facts and perspectives.”
