Kissoon’s nightly search for the bizarre and outlandish

Apr 03, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
A recent letter in another section of the press by Vishnu Bisram lamented that while Freddie Kissoon frequently maligns people in his columns, he doesn’t like it too much when he gets some criticism in return.
Bisram, quoting former SN Editor David DeCaires, is quite correct, though I would add that Kissoon may think that because he has a column (and may mention anybody’s name virtually willy nilly) he can intimidate people into silence this way.
I take issue though with Bisram describing Kissoon as having “25 years as a journalist (and therefore should know better)”. Kissoon is not a journalist in the traditional meaning of the term of a media worker going out and obtaining and disseminating information (the “story”) giving all the “who, how, what, where, when and possible why” in an objective way quoting relevant sources.
His is personal opinion. This is the nature of column writing, though there are outstanding and necessary examples where the line is blurred between subjective viewpoints and reporting in the interests of deepening ongoing progress and development (as reflected in state owned media) .
Columnists are part of the media but not journalists in its purest sense of the term. Kissoon is what is known in the trade as a shock columnist. He is just like the “radio shocks” in the US renowned for their outlandish styles and comments. They themselves are entertainment. Some go too far and spout racism like the now disgraced Don Imus who once described a largely African-American US basketball women’s team as being a bunch of “nappy-headed hoes”.
Shock columnists need to constantly rack their brains at night for outrageous topics and other extraordinary wild talk. You see, there needs to be “controversy” to attract readers. Just like stores need marketing gimmicks from time to time to boost up slumping sales. Some columnists nevertheless have their place and add an unusual dimension to sometimes routine reporting.
Here’s one example of Kissoon’s shock approach. He has latched onto the so called theory of “elected dictatorship” espoused by US-based Fareed Zakaria, who (do we need to say it?) is what is known as a “talking head”. He is a TV talk show host, the electronic equivalent of a shock columnist; though I think he has a column in a news magazine. Kissoon has latched onto his beloved Zakaria and this so called “new” theory. But there isn’t anything new about it and it has been debunked by serious analysts.
The bottom line is that in Guyana at this present conjuncture and taking into account certain historical realities, the citizens have voted in free and fair elections for a political party whose theoretical groundings came out of the still internationally respected and inspiring traditions of the European Enlightenment. No amount of fancy wordy footwork and semantic gimmickry can change that.
Kissoon appears himself to realise the futility of pushing this column fodder about an “elected dictatorship”. Now he is onto the typically outrageous (and false) “Burnham and Jagan the same”. I mean, he has to get a grip on himself in his apparently nightly search for the bizarre and outlandish.
Then there is the pointing to Guyanese, even politicians (presumably from all parties), travelling overseas for things like medical treatment and allowing children to live and study there. This is an indictment on Guyana, he claims. My view is that though Guyana is advancing on many fronts, the challenges in some areas means that our people should have the freedom to take advantage of the opportunities offered overseas and return to Guyana. To get medical treatment, Trinidad Prime Minister Manning recently travelled to Cuba, a country so unfairly – it has its own type of democracy typified for many years by the great Fidel Castro – maligned by Kissoon as a “dictatorship”. And look at the many British and Canadian sportspeople, including hockey player Bobby Orr, who have made the U.S. their home.
You got to understand Kissoon, not as an individual case, but in the general overall context including the opening up of the media in Guyana over the last decade. He adds, as I said, a little unusual dimension to sometimes routine reporting. Most times though he is entertainment, or amusing, as Bisram also notes.
Norman Faria

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