Dear Editor,

Everyone knows Pastor Daniel Singh and I don’t see ‘eye to eye’ on a number of issues, but on this we are in total agreement: The Guyana Chronicle epitomizes journalistic integrity in the way it handles its opinion columns.

In his letter, ‘Guyana Chronicle has commitment to the democratic process’ (GC Apr 21) Pastor Singh “noticed” the effort of professionalism displayed at this, one of the longest-running publications in the country.

There is a little secret I’ll share with the good pastor though, I can tell who is running the editorial department at the Guyana Chronicle just by reading the quality of daily news stories and by noticing the unbiased publication of letters. Ok, I’ll say it plain; this professionalism the pastor and I agreed upon is only present when Sharief Khan is on the job. I have noticed that when Mr Khan is absent the Chronicle slides into the mediocrity that dominates the other newspapers.

Reading the Stabroek News is a painful excursion into the ongoing angst of the hopeless political opposition. The experience at that newspaper is like reading the Official Gazette.

The Kaieteur News has recently taken to publishing only letters that are critical of me; the paper does not publish my original letters and ignores my rebuttals. I have brought this to the attention of their editor. One wonders if Kaieteur publishers take legal advice. If this one-sided trend continues I can easily make a case for the deliberate defamation of character. That won’t happen though, I am merely amused by their antics and what is clearly an editorial imposition in what should be a public arena.

Oh, and by the way, the Guyana Chronicle website leaves the competition in the dust.

“In the end, reputation and credibility will determine viability and longevity in a very competitive market,” Pastor Singh says, and I have to agree with him once again.

Yours faithfully,
Justin de Freitas