Dear Editor,
One of the great things about competition is that it benefits the ordinary person. In the media one would like to think that if one media house has a sacred cow, one can resort to another media outfit to get redress. This allows for freedom of expression. Competition in the media strengthens freedom of expression. Against this observation, I am requesting the Stabroek News to allow me space to reply to the Kaieteur News, the reason being that the Kaieteur News is disallowing my right to reply, something basic to the policy of any media house.
Kaieteur News carried a news item about me in which an accusation was made against me. I replied. The Kaieteur published my missive and attached a long editorial note and further accusations were made. The Kaieteur News went further and sought a challenge from me. I accepted. The newspaper has refused to print my position on its editorial note. I spoke to Freddie Kissoon about the non-publication of my clarification but he admitted to me that the refusal of the paper is something beyond his capacity to change.
The issue is not Freddie Kissoon. I don’t want to become embroiled in the dispute between Mr. Kissoon and the Kaieteur News over the numbers that attended Mr. Kissoon’s UG seminar. I have not even the slightest interest in the strained relationship between the Kaieteur News and its star columnist. The only reason I wrote was to clarify my position since the Kaieteur News used my name in a situation I insist is misleading. Here are the points of clarification. First, that photo was taken when Mr. Kissoon was at the podium asking people to bear up with the absence of the chairman. The lecture was not in full swing as yet.
Secondly, into Mr. Kissoon’s lecture, he got a full house. I had to stand. Why would I stand if there were empty seats? Even during the question period that lasted one hour, persons still came in. Mr. Glenn Lall, the Kaieteur News publisher, left immediately after the main talk. The film will show that. The occupied seats will be easily seen from the tape. Thirdly, could the Kaieteur News publish the photograph of the corner I was seated in after I got up to give away my seat? Fourthly, could the Kaieteur News publish the photograph of the empty chairs after Mr. Kissoon got into full swing?
The editorial note was written by someone not familiar with the Learning Research Center at UG. It has a permanent head table with three seats for presenters. If there are only two presenters then there will always be a vacant seat. A member of the audience would not go and sit in that chair. It would be out of protocol to do so. In its editorial note, the Kaieteur News conceded that people came in after Mr. Kissoon began his talk. What is the point – did Mr. Kissoon get an empty house or a full house?
If a symposium starts at 17.00 hours and it gets 10 persons and after 20 minutes it gets 50 persons then 50 persons were interested in hearing what the speaker has to say. The Kaieteur News seems to have an obsession with the small numbers at the beginning of Mr. Kissoon’s lecture. It has frequently commented on the small numbers.
This indicates that there may be a dispute between Mr. Kissoon and the paper he writes for. If that is so, then Kaieteur should have kept its reporting confined to that topic. But it brought me into its quarrel with its daily columnist to support its critique of Kissoon. This I found to be unprofessional. The Kaieteur News has requested me to air the video. I have the tape (DVD). It shows more than 23 persons attended Mr. Kissoon’s lecture. It shows a packed house. It shows that the packed house was not ten minutes before Mr. Kissoon was about to end.
In my second letter I asked the Kaieteur News to make contact with me for us to decide on the format of the showing of the DVD, meaning how many stations it will be aired on and the financial arrangement. It is very important that this letter is made available to readers because it will prove that one of the major news organizations in this country, the Kaieteur News, doctors the items it reports on. It appears that the Kaieteur News and Mr. Kissoon are in disagreement and the paper used its pages to try to discredit Mr. Kissoon. In support of its unprofessional conduct, it brought me in. I have had to answer questions from my constituents who were at the talk and saw the full house for themselves.
Here is a media house that sought to deliberately mislead its readers. It showed a photograph of the attendance at an academic presentation at UG and hid the truth about the numbers because it is involved with some problem or the other with Freddie Kissoon. When it called for proof of the numbers and got it, it then took an aggressive stand and refused to give the other side a hearing while on a daily basis repeating its version. This is indeed a sad day for Guyanese journalism.
Yours faithfully,
Jason Benjamin
President, UGSS
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the Kaieteur News for any comments they may wish to make.
