Dear Editor,
Mr Parris, in his letter captioned ‘The PPP’s fight for freedom of expression’ (SN, 8.12.07) had mentioned that Mr Percy Armstrong was removed by Dr Jagan from his press conferences on more than one occasion.
Actually, in the 1950s and 1960s local political leaders of the Burnham and Jagan type were just emerging. Such politicians decided to hold ‘press conferences’ in imitation of what they heard went on in the developed world. As expected, politicians like Dr Jagan as well as the press people knew nothing of how press conferences should be conducted, or their mode.
Such so-called ‘press conferences’ of half a century ago were not organized. There was no moderator as happens in today’s conferences.
The politicians turned up at the radio station and anyone from the press turned up. The journalists asked no real questions so as to generate news for their newspapers; they spent their time in political attacks and harassment of the politicians.
Mr Percy Armstrong, like almost all the journalists who came to such events, went there to heckle and harass Dr Jagan, often propagating incorrect information and libelling Jagan, whom they all knew would never bring a libel action.
Mr Percy Armstrong carried a level of vulgarity and rudeness which would be unthinkable in today’s press conferences. And Jagan, who was a most long-suffering man, tolerated Armstrong until he could do so no more.
In today’s press conferences, Armstrong would not be admitted except he behaved himself. In those times, the only recourse a politician had against a journalist who assumed the role of a rude and abusive politician was to ask him to leave his conference.
Politicians like Burnham and Balram Singh Rai caused fear among the journalists, and they were generally meek and respectful. This is unlike the case of Jagan, who was over-tolerant. For example, Armstrong went to one of Rai’s press conferences and was raging about the misdeeds of the PPP at Anna Regina. Rai who knew Armstrong had fabricated the story, suddenly and emphatically asked Armstrong where Anna Regina was. And Armstrong, with confidence, shouted “Berbice,” to the loud laughter of his colleagues.
When writing the history of broadcasting in Guyana, the historian would be able to trace the development of the press conference over 50 years from the rudeness and simple vulgarity of Armstrong to the comparative polish and international pitch of our younger journalists.
Yours faithfully,
JJ Forde
