Dear Editor,
I refer to a letter captioned “Mr Kissoon must ensure he checks his facts” (08.04.21) by someone who signs his name as Anand Persaud. I believe if there is anything a decent human should hate in life, it is a fictitious writer who attacks real people with real names and real addresses.
It is a most sickening, depraved, uncivilized aspect of life. I will not reply to Anand Persaud unless he allows me to have the same knowledge of him that he has of me. He knows I write for the Kaieteur News. He knows I teach at UG. He knows which country I live in. He knows my name is real. I will ask you to let Persaud verify his existence. If he cannot, then his missives should be kept unopened.
The Channel 6 suspension should cause all media houses to reflect on the nature of the media and its requirements. There should be some attempt for Guyana to have an association of media organisations, whose heads can sit down and work out a guideline for the publication and airing of criticism of public figures. A definite requirement is that radio stations, television stations and newspapers should not allow for the dissemination of attacks by people who refuse to be identified.
Anonymous people should not be heard in the media. Such a practice brings down the standards of a media house because it allows for people to be protected even while they are promulgating nasty things. They are protected in the sense that they write their evil things and not even their families know the dirty things they are doing. The case of Oliver Sam is a graphic reminder of this egregious sin of the Guyanese media. There is no such person. That was established long ago by the Stabroek News and my Kaieteur column. Yet both papers have occasionally printed letters by this fictitious person.
I honestly believe that no newspaper should have an anonymous columnist. Why would any newspaper want to have a commentator that confronts public actors and hides behind a false name? Such a position cannot be defended by the most learned mind. The modern media have done away with this ancient practice. I am suggesting that both newspapers keep a bank of letters that would enable them to fill their pages while they verify the details provided by the writer.
The newspapers should request e-mail addressees and local citizens to provide a telephone number of home and workplace in addition to the name. The only exception should be when the person is writing on an exposure. In that case, they will need to remain confidential. But under no circumstances should nameless and faceless correspondents in the newspaper be allowed to carry on with consistent attacks on public figures and immorally hide behind a mask. A frequent columnist falls under this category. One of the things I always wonder about such people is if they have a family. Should a child respect his/her father who writes a column penning all sorts of condemnation of real people and is a sickening coward, frightened with fear if the country should know who they are. I truly believe nameless and faceless critics is an evil in life.
Yours faithfully,
Frederick Kissoon
