The principle of it all

Nov 07, 2013 Editorial

From time to time we find that freedom of expression merely means the freedom of the owners of a media house to express their thoughts, ideas and feelings. In the developing world, if the owners are politicians, especially the ruling party, then the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press merely mean that the press is free to do what the government wants and to express mainly the views of the government.
In recent times, this newspaper had taken to highlighting and presenting information presented by people in the know. Many of these people often said that they have been reporting to the authorities about evident malpractices, but the authorities would merely shrug and promise to do something.
For example, people reported that the wife of a senior official in the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority had been able to purchase a house for $60 million. This woman, up to shortly before she made the purchase, was earning a salary of $40,000 per month.
This information reached the ears of none other than the then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who promised an investigation. The Commissioner General of the Guyana Revenue Authority was also similarly notified. Neither of these two men ever conducted an investigation. It was as if the issue of suspected corrupt transactions was nothing more than a suspicion.
But even in cases where people presented the evidence, the then President would say that the evidence was not good enough to stand up in a court of law, and was therefore not enough to warrant sanctions. We know that in other societies once there is evidence then dismissal follows. The person is given a hearing at the departmental level and action is sometimes taken.
This government has not been known to prosecute anyone for even theft. There was the remigrant issue and one woman was placed before the court. The other persons implicated were not even asked to offer an explanation and were in fact promoted within the same system. The woman placed before the court died and that was the end of the matter.
We have had cases of known officers within the court system stealing money deposited for the payment of alimony and affiliation fees. After the news reports nothing happens. In one case a woman made one court appearance and that was the end of the matter; it has never again been called.
So it was that this newspaper began to document the various episodes of corruption, starting with those high in the social order and close to the corridors of power. Immediately, one media house responded with a series of scurrilous attacks against the owner of this newspaper. As fate would have it, that issue has now grabbed national attention. One reporter decided that enough was enough and opted to resign rather than read the scurrilous material that her media owners were seeking to propagate.
In any society the media is entrusted with the truth. Its mandate is to disseminate the truth faithfully and without fear or favour. However, in Guyana the owners of the media — particularly the state-owned media—have demonstrated a penchant for making the truth whatever the owner of that media house wants it to be.
In this case, the aim of the owner of Guyana Times/TVG is to denigrate the owner of Kaieteur News, Glenn Lall. And the reason is simple — destroy all who dare to examine or probe anything in which he is involved.
One cannot believe that the senior executive of the media house would sit with the media and concoct stories so libelous that were the victim of a mind to take legal action, the newspaper would have found itself in a mire. But then again, finance cannot be a problem for this group.
But there are those who, although new and untrained in the working of the media, know what the principles are and despite the economic conditions, they are prepared to sacrifice so that standards of decency would prevail.

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The principle of it all

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