Dear Editor,
One can certainly empathize with the comment from Gabriel Charles (SN 4/10/07) bemoaning negative coverage of Guyana in the press. At the same time, however, what is being portrayed as an attitude of Stabroek News is simply the nature of journalism on every country on earth.
Mr. Charles’s distress is understandable, but the reality is that mankind is drawn to the shocking, disturbing, alarming news items, and the newspaper or TV show that ignores that demand is likely to fail. Consider for instance that it is almost a daily practice for us to call our friends to chat about the latest tragedy, or the latest scandal, or the latest example of corruption. How often are we propelled to talk about something benign? Two newspapers are on the stands: One headlines, “New bridge underway”; the other one headlines, “Five dead in holdup”. Guess which paper sells out?
The simple truth is that, for any media outlet, “bad news is good news”, in the sense that it’s what sells, and the further truth is that human nature is the engine driving that. To look at the Jamaica Gleaner, the Trinidad Express, the Miami Herald, or the Toronto Star is to see that dispositon reflected daily.
On the day that Mr. Charles letter appeared, the top stories at MSNBC.com were the following: “5 dead in Congo plane crash; Bush vetoes child insurance; Tracing 5 who died in Blackwater shooting; Terror suspects on the loose; Diana’s driver appeared steady in final hours.”
As an example, living as I do, 40 minutes by air from Jamaica, one would never venture near the place based on the picture delivered in the media. To go there, as to go to Guyana, is to find out that it is not the hellhole you’ve been made to think it is.
Most of the public, most of the time, are drawn to the shocking, alarming, “oh my God” stuff. Until human nature is transformed, the ideal “balanced view” will be hard to find.
Yours faithfully,
Dave Martins
