The Guyana Press Association Election: A farcical affair?

Apr 27, 2009 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

I was asked who I support for the Presidency of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) in the upcoming election. I responded that my answer would be unfair since of the two candidates, Gordon Moseley of Capitol News and Edison Jefford of Kaieteur News, I don’t know anything much about Mr. Moseley. I am quite familiar with the record of Mr. Jefford. I knew him as a student at UG. He got honorary mention by the Guyana Prize Committee. He offers analytical commentary in the sports section of the Kaieteur News. I would not endorse Mr. Jefford just because we are Kaieteur News colleagues. This has never been my style.

Mr. Moseley may have more going for him than I know about. The fact for me is that I know more about Jefford than I do of Moseley. As someone who monitors places, people and events in Guyana, I have no idea about the educational background of Mr. Moseley and what are his achievements in Guyana and elsewhere. Of course these may be many but I simply have not read about them or heard other Guyanese talking about them. Please do not get me wrong. I repeat Mr. Moseley may have impressive curriculum vitae. My point is, I know Jefford’s scorecard more than Moseley’s. This is what determines my choice. I think the Guyana Press Association has a terrible image of a never-do-anything organization. President, Dennis Chabrol’s methods of advocacy of Moseley, borders on the unacceptable. Before we come to Chabrol and Moseley, let us look a little bit at Guyana’s journalists. Professor Vibart Cambridge, on a continuum of 10, rates Guyanese journalists at 4. This is quite a high rating given the image of Guyanese journalism.

It is doubtful that within the corridors of power, inside the halls of the private sector and within the arena of the general society, there is much admiration and respect for many of our journalists. Many hardly do investigation, hardly adumbrate pointed questions and they are given to behaviour that is extremely embarrassing. The publisher of this newspaper told me that he is upset at how Guyanese reporters laugh at their colleagues when policy-makers try to put down a reporter who persists with a particular angle at press conferences. It is childish, immature and unacceptable. One is at a loss to know that the GPA has not corrected this unbecoming situation

Mr. Chabrol is vigorously campaigning for Mr. Moseley using the email-net work among media people. It doesn’t sound like the proper thing to do. But even if Mr. Chabrol’s efforts are within the moral realm, his defence of Mr. Moseley is overbearingly mediocre. I have opened my e-mails and all I read is Mr. Chabrol asking media people to vote for Moseley. Not a word about Moseley’s qualities and achievements. I told Mr. Chabrol as the President of the GPA, he should not use his office to campaign for Moseley. He denied this, saying he has a right as an individual to support who he wants to. I accept that. But he hasn’t penned a line so far publicly stating that.

I indicated that it would be of interest to me to know why he would like to see Mr. Moseley as the President of the GPA. His reply brings into focus how certain Guyanese journalists operate when it is their time to answer questions when they are the newsmakers. Remember Neil Marks refused to say why Guyana Times fired him. Mr. Chabrol asserted that he is not interested in offering his reasons. I wished he did. I could have better understood Mr. Moseley’s reason for running. I hope before the election date comes up, Mr. Chabrol can tell us why he is rooting for Moseley.

Mr. Moseley is currently bombarding your mailbox with slogans of “Vote for Gordon Moseley” but not a single line on why we must do so. Moseley tells us nothing about his achievements. Let me leave you with how the GPA operates. Mr. Chabrol informed me that the GPA is only for journalists; all others could only have associate membership. He insisted that it is an organization only for journalists. I asked then how come non-journalist, Martin Goolsarran is on the GPA’s executive. Quite calmly, Mr. Chabrol answered the question. He told me that he thinks that in the past, Mr. Goolsarran used to be a journalist. A look at the GPA’s constitution is something Professor Cambridge missed out on. Had he read it, he would have lowered his rating from 4 to 1. The GPA is about to have a selection not an election.