(Barbados Nation) Unfair to politicians and unsupportive of its own people when they’re in trouble!
Prime Minister David Thompson levelled this charge at the local Press, particularly THE NATION on Sunday.
He was commenting on the SUNDAY SUN’S Front Page charge that his senior political advisor Hartley Henry had made a threat against the paper’s editor Carol Martindale.
Thompson raised the issue when he addressed the second and final day of his party’s annual conference.
He said the paper had not followed the tenets of fairness by publishing Page One articles based on the “say-so” of just one person, the complainant.
According to Thompson, three people, including Minister of Social Care Christopher Sinckler, had heard the telephone conversation initiated by Henry but the paper had not interviewed them to verify the accuracy of the allegation.
Thompson also said that while he had been delivered a letter about the complaint at 11 p.m. Saturday night, the paper had made no effort to get his response to the incident before going to print.
He told the gathering of hundreds of DLP faithful, that he found THE NATION’S move ironic because the paper had not appeared “indignant” when former journalist Reudon Eversley had been “abused, threatened, hounded down and eventually terminated” because of his political views.
He also charged that the newspaper had not been fully supportive of journalist Terry Ali after he had been ridiculed on the floor of the House of Assembly.
He said too that even former NATION President and Editor-In-Chief Harold Hoyte had been described as “a negrocrat” by former Prime Minister Owen Arthur without the paper putting up a fight in his defence.
According to Thompson, the newspaper had pulled Henry’s column because of his political position but had proceeded to use Barbados Labour Party representatives as columnists.
He said he did not expect the media to be friends of his party, but to give it a fair deal.
He spoke out against the media having any “sanctimonious posturing” in its dealing with anyone.
“He who comes to equity must come with clean hands,’ he remarked.
Thompson told the meeting he had been informed that the matter was in the hands of the police and that he would not use any power of his to intervene.