Dear Editor,
I refer to the editorial of Kaieteur News on August 26, 2009, with the caption ‘Democracy and the press.’
The theme of this editorial is that in the history of democracy, the press contributed to the removal of despots. Nobody is disputing the immense role of journalism in this regard. But there is journalism and journalism. What I am pointing out is that the journalism in Guyana is at its lowest ebb, and needs repair; we cannot use ‘damaged goods’ journalism to sustain democracy and remove the evils that thwart the consolidation of democracy.
And then there is the use of Moyers’ negative perception of the press while working in the US White House during the Vietnam War; the editorial extrapolates this perception to the Guyana situation without any qualifications. This is almost paralleling ethnocentric behaviour to say the least, meaning that the editorial could not care less about ‘values’ in the Guyana situation, as it manipulates wholesale attribution of this ‘overseas’ perception to Guyana where this ‘overseas’ perception could very well demean any good local values in journalism, if any exist at all. Extrapolations are good, but they have to be implanted and interpreted contextually, with appropriate qualifications.
This editorial is abusing, too, the evidence of history, manipulating such evidence to demonstrate that the press impacted the removal of despots in history. While that might very well be the case, the editors must note that their brand of shoddy journalism carries little or no comparison with their historical allusion, even if such a comparison, indeed, is warranted and appropriate. Apparently, this editorial uses the historical reference as a camouflage to justify its pursuit of a journalism of allegations.
But I suspect this editorial’s abuse goes well beyond Kaieteur News. The columns and editorials in some media houses are partners in this abuse of the principles of journalism, considering the standards of journalism that Kaieteur News and some other media houses brandish.
The media’s right to communicate information has restrictions. The Guyana Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, but the exercise of that freedom must be in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health; refer to Article 146 (2) (a) of the constitution.
Article VIII of the Charter of Civil Society for the Caribbean Community (Caricom) stipulates that there should be freedom of expression and access to information. But the charter went on to say that exercise of this right requires special duties and responsibilities, but that right is subject to reasonable restraints for the public good.
Dr Michael P Mortell, President of The National University of Ireland, Cork, in 1997, said that freedom of the press is not an absolute. He argued that the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and several international rights instruments, all include freedom of speech, but do not bestow a privileged status on the press.
And the Hutton Inquiry in 2004 noted: “…the right to communicate… information is subject to the qualification… that false accusations of fact impugning the integrity of others, including politicians, should not be made by the media. Where a reporter is intending to broadcast or publish information impugning the integrity of others the management of his broadcasting company or newspaper should ensure that a system is in place whereby his editor or editors give careful consideration to the wording of the report and to whether it is right in all the circumstances to broadcast or publish it…”
Many media houses not only fail to comply with this requirement, but believe that they have an absolute divine and unfettered right to communicate information, which is all the more reason why it is necessary to reiterate the salient principles of journalism critical for safeguarding the public interest within the media and society, and indeed, the great need for a journalism of verification. Some people do not like this ‘reiteration,’ but I have to ‘reiterate’ because they do not seem ‘to get it’!
The Guyanese people are up to their eyeballs with the daily media grinding out ill-conceived, fabricated remarks, lacking in analyses and verification. Many of these are unjustifiable anti-government remarks, and in some cases, they could constitute incitement to racial hatred where power play is at stake. These remarks violate the fundamental principles of fairness and objectivity, and embody too, albeit unconvincingly, ‘overseas perceptions and remarks’ to substantiate slipshod journalism in this country. This will not do!
Yours faithfully,
Prem Misir
