Name and Shame

OF all the administrations which have run this country, the People’s Partnership assumed office with perhaps a mandate second only to that of the NAR of 1986 but with its leader, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, displaying a sensitivity to the issues of press freedom that had been displayed by no other leader in our country’s history.

Dr. Eric Williams launched his political career by burning copies of the Guardian in Woodford Square; George Chambers threatened journalists at a public meeting in Arima; although ANR Robinson opened up the access to the electronic media, his administration attempted to starve the TnT Mirror of newsprint.

The less said of Basdeo Panday and his Green Paper on Media Reform the better; and while Patrick Manning did sign the declaration of Chapultepec, the heavy handed attempt to impose bans on two reporters for contempt of Parliament and his barging into a radio station to protest some admittedly off-colour on-air remarks did not display any appreciation for the role of a free press in a democracy.

Media practitioners, a number of whom joined her administration, could be forgiven for expecting to be different, the Persad-Bissessar who courted them assiduously while in Opposition and remained on first-name basis with the corps of political reporters even after taking office.

In fact, the PP stated in its manifesto a commitment to amending the Constitution to provide for “a free press, unfettered by government intimidation and uncompromised by government preference.”

Many believed a new media era had dawned when, unlike the ever-imperious Manning, Persad-Bissessar shooed away her handlers and walked into the crowd of journalists waiting to interview her at her swearing-in ceremony. That honeymoon was never destined to last, but even her most avid supporters in the media must now be wondering how quickly it has ended

Glimpses were seen, beginning with the Reshmi Ramnarine episode, where the smile was replaced by a grimace under intense questioning. Then the confirmation came with her complete ignoring of a group of reporters who had waited for hours for an interview at the UNC’s Family Day in Syne Village, Penal. Her National Security Minister, Gary Griffith, put that one down to the reporters now posing a possible security threat.

None of this, however, has come as a surprise to us at the Mirror, which has seen its fair share of politicians falling in and out of love with the media. The love, of course, is strongest when they are in Opposition, since our politicians, surrounded by sycophants while in office, quickly become high on their own supply of propaganda and begin seeing every criticism as part of an Opposition plot.

This newspaper was founded on a commitment to independent and aggressive journalism and has over the years paid a high price when politicians decide to use State resources to force us to bend. We do not intend to yield to that. Instead, as part of our commitment to a free press and to holding this and all other administrations to their lofty promises we intend to, beginning this week, name and shame every State organisation and their spineless officials who have been co-opted in what is an inherently corrupt, illegal and unconstitutional enterprise.

Beginning today also, we shall be holding accountable all those agencies that have pulled their advertising, by publishing their names on the otherwise blank pages to which they had previously committed advertising

Trinidad and Tobago is not Guyana, where the Government bans television stations, rations advertising and still does not allow privately owned radio stations. It is not Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez has cultivated a cult of personality and shut down every independent news medium that refuses to comply.

The Prime Minister assumed office with a commitment to a free and unrestricted media. We intend to ensure she sticks to it since to do less would constitute a real threat to our democracy

The Public Transport Service Corporation’s (PTSC) Deputy General Manager, Properties, Ravi Ratiram is denying any knowledge of a sex ring operating out of the corporation’s facilities or that the issue is now under investigation by Transport Minister Devant Maharaj.

Re-printed from TnT Mirror March 4th 2012