Dear Editor,
Please allow me a space in your newspaper to air my extreme dissatisfaction as a letter writer.
On October 1, 2013, I sent a letter to the editors of the Chronicle, Stabroek and Kaieteur newspapers, to be published. This letter aimed to voice my opinion on the position taken by the Guyana Bar Association and the Guyana Women Lawyers Association in response to statements made by the Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
On October, 3, 2013 my letter was featured in this section of the Chronicle, but to date has not been published in either the Stabroek News or the Kaieteur News.
It is most significant to note that the same Stabroek and Kaieteur both publish letters about and statements issued by the Guyana Bar Association and the Guyana Women Lawyers Association and as such they would have a duty, more than any other newspaper, according to the principles of fairness to letter writers, to give them the opportunity to respond to letters they publish.
This is not the case with Stabroek News and Kaieteur News.
If it is their policy to publish letters or statements on issues of importance to the country, why then was mine not published? Is this fair? Are my views not important too? It would seem that the only letters that are published are those offering criticisms of the PPP administration and the government. Supporters of the government are not allowed a voice in these newspapers.
This unfair and unprofessional journalistic strategy seems to be the new way of dispensing news. While they may consider it their right to do so, the nation must know what is happening in this land of ours. They must state their position.
Yours faithfully,
Faruk Mohamed
Editor’s note
Contrary to Mr Mohamed’s claim, Stabroek News received a copy of his letter on October 3, 2013, the same day it appeared in the Guyana Chronicle. The earliest it could have been published by this newspaper, therefore (assuming Mr Mohamed had supplied full address, telephone no, etc, which he did not do) would have been October 4. We do not as a general rule publish letters which have already appeared in other sections of the press.
