A smear campaign is underway

Aug 05, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,
A quick scan of some of Guyana’s online publications (and some blogs) will show clearly that a smear campaign is underway.
The political activists engaged in this operation are posing as reporters, and under this cover they abuse the notions of press freedom to undermine national policies, and also to ridicule and taint government officials.
These activists will cry foul and protest that it is a gross attack on freedom of journalistic expression when their political agenda is exposed.
They will complain that they are offering analyses and that the government should not be insensitive to robust criticism which they are doing as part of their job. Well, in actuality, this is not their job.
A reporter’s duty is to report the news factually and without bias. Any report in which a political slant is detected is activism and the writer should not be accredited by any respectable journalistic association. Such persons should confine their advocacy to opinion columns.
Political activism posing as independent news reporting is a contemptible betrayal of the public trust and a dark blight on the ethics of what was once a noble profession.
Another technique being used is baiting; both racial and criminal. Women, men and babies are being killed and any response by law enforcement to bring the perpetrators to justice is being highlighted as attacks on certain sections of the community. This is happening over and over again; all kinds of lawlessness are being encouraged and any retribution is painted as a generalised abuse of power. Justice for the wrongdoers is portrayed to the world as victimization.
The architects of the smear campaign seem unable to recognise its futility. This programme does not engender trust for alternative governance; it is not a technique that inspires electoral victories and this will become obvious in the upcoming polls. The silent majority knows the true nature of the game that is being played.
Any government, especially one that has been repeatedly re-elected to several terms can become such a bureaucratic mess that it can be infiltrated easily by corrupt elements in our society. Officials can become lazy and even corrupt. So a watchdog press is needed to ensure openness and accountability. However, we need to know where impartial monitoring ends and political campaigning begins.
Justin de Freitas

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