Another poor piece of journalism

Jun 15, 2008 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
I refer to Dr. Prem Misir’s letter in Tuesday’s SN (10/6/08) providing much enlightenment on the subject of Enlightenment, the heading of Sunday SN’s (8/6/08) editorial and the expected editorial comments.

Dr. Misir made it very clear that “I immediately thought of the European Enlightenment when I stumbled on the editorial’s use of the word ‘enlightenment’.”

I myself, when I saw the heading of the editorial, felt that it was about such esoteric things that I didn’t read it, at the time, only later.

I think that there is a vast amount of useful and necessary information provided by the government on its policies, programmes and development of the country which the SN sarcastically dismisses as ‘propaganda.’

Many Guyanese can never forget what the SN published as information during the crime spree in the early part of this decade, that George Bacchus had undergone a lie detector test at the US Embassy in Georgetown, in big bold headlines on its front page.

When this claim was immediately denied by the US Embassy, that no such thing took place and that in fact they do not have the equipment to conduct such tests, SN sheepishly published in one of its back pages, in much smaller print, that it got the information (propaganda) from “a usually reliable source”.

One wonders why the SN, which seems to hold itself up as a paragon of virtue in the media sector, did not seek to confirm such information with the embassy. This is another example of the contempt which SN seems to have for the intelligence of the Guyanese people.

In point 3 of the editor’s comment, it is stated “No one is proposing that all categories of record under a Freedom of Information Act should be accessible to the public, so Dr. Misir’s reference to exemption is a red herring.”

This is, as a matter of fact, a very important piece of information to the public and which I think should have been mentioned in the editorial.

In the editor’s comment point 4 states that “the editorial did not speak of a war of words between President Jagdeo and Mr. Yesu Persaud let alone imply a fictional rift between the private sector and the government. However, it was concerned about the President’s bad manners on a public occasion.”

I think most people felt that the implication of Mr. Persaud’s statement as regards the granting of tax concessions was in fact an example of extremely bad manners, and called for a sharp and clear response.

It was also re-assuring to hear that the President, even before this, had given instructions to Mr. Brassington to hold a tax seminar, as he must have felt, I feel, that it was necessary for public information and enlightenment to remind the public of the relevant provisions.

You don’t do such things as holding a tax seminar if you have something to hide.
Over the years, SN criticised the government, at one time for “sloth” and at another time for “running too fast.”

It also took a special interest in the President’s travel schedule, frequently stating that, “he should not have gone at this time,” when, although we had serious problems here, urgent matters of state concerning the welfare of the country and its people required the attendance of the President at important conferences and meetings.

I feel that the possibility exists, of which Dr. Misir warned, that SN, given its record, was seeking to promote the idea of a rift between the government and the private sector, and also of a war of words.
John Da Silva

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