Guyana: The poverty of journalism; journalism’s poverty

Dec 21, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Mr. Glenn Lall, the publisher of Kaieteur News, called me on Friday morning to request that I send him a list of journalism’s unattended curiosities that were mentioned in my column yesterday.
I quote the section that caught Mr. Lall’s eyes; “Guyana’s journalism is poor and I don’t see any improvement in the near future. The role of the media is to inform the society about what takes place right in their midst. Guyana’s media is not even halfway there. This columnist can name more than a dozen stories that need investigating and that in any country the media would be like flies on ointment, but not Guyana”.
Mr. Lall called while I was driving. On arrival home, I began to type the list when it occurred to me to make the list public so not only Lall would see it, but all those who read this column, in and out of the land. I sincerely believe in my heart that in comparison with the Caribbean region and the rest of the world, Guyana’s journalism is the poorest.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t outstanding journalists in Guyana; there are. I would be dishonest not to mention Leonard Gildarie and I don’t give a damn who says I have cited him because he works for Kaieteur News, the paper I write for.
Gildarie had the testicular fortitude (Lincoln Lewis’ favourite combination of words – the usage of which President Granger says he finds unacceptable) to follow-up on a shocking revelation made in February 2017 by the then leader of the AFC, Raphael Trotman.
Speaking at the AFC’s head office, Trotman told the media that President Granger was over-generous to the AFC, that in addition to the Cabinet seats that the AFC were assigned under the Cummingsburg Accord, Granger selected three more including his own son-in-law, Dominic Gaskin, and he, Raphael Trotman.
Gildarie was the only journalist with the intellectual foresight to see the significance of that revelation and to seek a comment from Joe Harmon. The man whom the satirical column “Dem Boys Seh” refers to as “Joe Shanlin”, instead of answering Gildarie, attacked me, the messenger.
“Joe Shanlin” said not one word about what Trotman uttered. Dominic Gaskin referred to me as stupid. Many of the politicians that rule tragic Guyana are asinine people. I merely reported on what Trotman said, and Harmon and Gaskin attacked me. Trust me when I say that Trump, Boris Johnson and Bolsonaro in Brazil are billions of times better leaders than some of the asinine characters that reign in Guyana.
Here is the list Mr. Lall requested. These are crucial subjects that all Guyanese need to know, their significance in any other country would have been pursued by the journalistic community
1 – APNU and AFC have concluded their renewal of the Cummingsburg Accord. Granger and Ramjattan have not announced officially or unofficially who has been selected for the PM slot. Has Ramjattan being chosen, if yes, why was Nagamootoo bypassed?
2- Moses Nagamootoo has the portfolio for the entire state media. He has not uttered even half a word as to if he has approved or disapproved of the Chronicle dropping Lincoln Lewis and David Hinds as columnists.
3- Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman stated that he signed the one percent royalty agreement because he was told to. In no other country would Trotman have been left alone if he did not disclose who forced him to accept one percent.
4- President Granger said one of the most dangerous things any Guyanese head of government could have mouthed off, yet he has not been pursued by the media on his incredibly misplaced belief. He said the media should be allocated state advertisements based on the fairness of its coverage. Two dimensions of this emanation should be attended to – what is fairness; who measures it, and is the Chronicle reporting fairly on what takes place in Guyana?
5- The APNU+AFC coalition won the election by a margin of point three percent. Granger as head of APNU, Trotman as head of the AFC between 2017 and 2019, Ramjattan as head of the AFC since June 2019 and Nagamootoo as Prime Minister, have not been asked by the media if such an infinitesimal margin constitutes a moral mandate to rule Guyana by themselves, and if because of that coat of varnish that separated their triumph over the PPP, should they not run Guyana by widely consulting, with examples offered like the editorial direction of the Chronicle and contents of NCN broadcasts?
6- The Police Commissioner said the investigation into Charrandass Persaud involves national security. How is that angle going?
7- Winston Jordan exclaimed “war break.” Is the war still going on?

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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