Who broadcast their quackery and keep quacks?

Dec 05, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

We read with astonishment not one but two apologies published on the front page of the Guyana Chronicle in its Sunday, December 4, 2022 edition.

The apologies were for infractions committed by the Chronicle under the current and the former Governments. The journalistic sins on both occasions were defamation of Opposition characters: Lennox Shuman being defamed by the Chronicle under the APNU+AFC Government and Jermaine Figueira being defamed by the Chronicle under the current PPP administration. In both cases of libel, fraud was the claim by the newspaper but these claims could not be proven.

What we found astonishing is the management of the Chronicle came up with this brilliant idea to print both apologies big and bold on the front page of the newspaper paper. This is like saying proudly: ‘Hey readers, this is what we do, we are not hiding it, we are putting it in your face, so you can trust any information we put out at your own peril.’

We want to ask the management of the Guyana Chronicle, why would any serious journalist want to continue working at the Chronicle when they (management) by their instruction have worsened the situation by effectively showcasing the newspaper in that manner that portrays it as a discredited tool of information?

We also want to know what action is the Chronicle taking against the current Editor who gleefully published the libel against Mr Figueira?

Truth be told, the Editor in question is woefully unqualified and has not even a scintilla of evidence to show work of minimum competence. However, someone like that has become an Editor at the State’s newspaper. We the Reporters are happy that this Editor is currently not at the Chronicle and hope this person will not return because our biggest fear is submitting our work to someone who we believe is a quack.

The very Editor and another ‘Editor’, who is a known quack, continue to boast of their association with Senior Government Officials and use that to bully, threaten and intimidate staffers at the Chronicle. Most of the Reporters and other staffers suffer from serious mental health issues. It boggles the mind why the Board at Chronicle does not conduct a performance audit on these people and others in the newsroom. It seems clear that nothing will happen- the crass political operators will continue to operate scotch free. We also have to say that it is unfortunate that a newspaper which had made some strides in recent times has returned to the same level of crassness it is known for over the many years. In all of this, the Editor- in- Chief, has virtually ‘disappeared’. Chronicle does not seem to be a serious place and the powers that be should pay serious attention to this situation.

Sincerely

Concerned staffers

Names withheld