Exposure is the media’s protector

May 10, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The members of the media have the power to end the abuse which they have suffered at the hands of supporters of the APNU+AFC. They have the means of exposure but have refused to identify those who have been responsible for the abuse.
Media workers were subject to threats and other forms of abuse outside of the Ashmin Building and outside of the headquarters of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Yet, amazingly, not one media house published or showed the images of those responsible for the threats and other forms of abuse.
It therefore should not come as a surprise that those who are complicit in these actions have been emboldened. The abuse of the media has continued outside of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. It has continued from where it left off in Hadfield Street and in High Street.
The objective of this sustained campaign of abuse is to intimidate. The media’s presence has effectively countered the APNU+AFC ever-changing narratives. Just after the Mingo-Bingo, the narrative was that the PPPC was the disruptive force. But that narrative was debunked by the clear evidence of electoral rigging, threats to international observers and foreign diplomats and blatant malpractice in the tabulation process.
The abusers wanted to ensure that lies which were being peddled by the APNU+AFC were kept secret. And the best way to achieve this was to silence the independent media by resorting to lies, threats and other forms of abuse.
This trend has continued during the recount exercise. Media workers continue to be the subject of abuse and lies from the APNU+AFC.
Unfortunately, they are not doing anything to halt the abuse. It is not as if they are helpless. They have the power of exposure. But the media seem reluctant to use it because its members are fearful and some of them are partisan.
All that is required to end the abuse is for the images of those to be published and shown in the newspapers, and on television and social media. Where those hurling the abuse are not known, the public should be asked to provide information that would help identify them. Once there is the risk of the culprits being exposed publicly, these vagabonds would think twice before threatening the media.
Media workers are operating in an environment of fear. They are afraid of exposing the thugs and hooligans who are threatening them because they are worried about being targeted for physical attacks.
They would have heard stories about what took place after the 1997 elections. Media workers were harassed and attacked in the aftermath of those elections. State media workers, who were perceived to be sympathetic to the PPPC, had their equipment taken away by thugs at Congress Place. Reporters covering press conferences at that location were under siege. There were more noisy supporters at the press conferences than media personnel. Many reporters were abused and roughed-up when covering media conferences at that location.
During one of the protests march which took place after the elections, a senior media figure was among the protestors. As the group approached the home of then TUF leader, they began to pelt stones at his house, breaking most of the window panes. The PNCR had taken to attacking the home of a fellow opposition leader.
The media figure, who is now involved in the state-media, was an eyewitness to what took place. He never reported on what he saw or identified who was responsible. He may have been afraid or he may have been partisan.
The media is as divided politically as the rest of the society. One of the reasons why media workers are not publishing images of the hooligans who are threatening and otherwise abusing them is because many media workers do not wish to make a report against members of the party which they support.
Media workers, however, have an obligation to tell the truth. They have a duty to report fairly and accurately and to set aside partisan loyalties in their reporting. But some of them, do not yet understand what it means to be professional.
The APNU+AFC will continue with its misinformation campaign. The danger, however, with lying is that once you start, you cannot stop. One lie leads to another until you reach a stage where those propagating the lies become a lie themselves. They become untrue to themselves.
There are some of these in the media. They are a disgrace to the profession. And cannot change their ways.
The younger generation of media professionals should not allow themselves to be contaminated by the partisan virus. They should stand tall as media professionals, beginning with exposing the rascals who in abusing media personnel, are threatening press freedom and testing its professionalism.

(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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