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The necessity for more investigative journalism in Guyana
Dear Editor,
Responding to a report in your August 27, 2015 edition headlined: $42 billion worth of gold smuggled in four months, a friend and former colleague who, like myself was a media operative in Guyana, now resident in the USA, sent me this significant reflection on the paucity of, and necessity for investigative journalism in today’s Guyana.
This state is lamentable, given the endless possibilities presented to any serious reporters to ‘background’ their reportage. It is not sufficient for readers to rely only on letter writers and mind pieces from columnists, to complement the news. The investigative journalist is expected do “the real digging, ferreting out, running down the details no matter how long it takes or where they lead”.
For example, the accumulation of evidence on the skullduggery and generally corrupt practices of the deposed Jagdeo/Ramotar PPPC government will supply grist for the investigative journalist’s mill, sufficient to make his/her career as a respected practitioner in the field… Below are Duke Lambert’s views with which I identify completely.
“This is an important topic, critical to Guyana’s economy, and deserving of a better presentation. It is worthy of a larger investigative piece, not merely a recounting of incidents and circumstances, in other words, a poorly written and edited story.
“There is no connection between the headline and the story. How can the newspaper’s reporter, copy editor/headline writer claim that the gold smuggling racket had been “Blown wide open” then give us a puff piece with a lame lead?
“The story merely recounts events that are “under investigation” by government officials who, and agencies that, “declined to go into details”? Where is the drama? Where is the probing exposure of a corrupt element of Guyanese society? Where is/are the whistleblower(s) who lit the fuse to “blow wide open” the corrupt undertakings?
“All I read was a puff of smoke because, apparently, investigative reporting-the real digging, ferreting out, running down the details no matter how long it takes or where they lead-has yet to rear its creative, detailed head in Guyana.”
Joan Cambridge
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