No compensation for 1990 media hostages

LOCAL media veteran Bernard Pantin said as TT approaches the 30th anniversary of the July 1990 attempted coup, media hostages still have not received any compensation.

He was speaking before receiving an award for media excellence from the TT Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) at its 15th annual awards ceremony on Thursday night at the Hilton Trinidad, Port of Spain.

Pantin, whose media career spans more than four decades, was TTT programme manager during the attempted coup staged by the Jamaat al Muslimeen in July 1990.

In the report of the commission of enquiry into the attempted coup, tribute was paid to his initiative to keep the insurgents off the air and for providing an alternative broadcasting platform for state forces.

He said in the two years leading up to the coup attempt, the two main political parties which are still around today worked together to destabilise the centrist NAR government.

“And when our country faced the challenges of July 27, they both went silent, not recognising that an attack on the government was an attack on all of TT.”

He said with the 30th anniversary coming next year, “Maybe we understand why there’s still no proper recognition with respect to that terrible tragedy.”

He pointed out that media hostages have still not received any compensation despite recommendations of the commission of enquiry.

“And since then we have had 25 years of exchange among our political parties. The recent local government elections shows that the more things change, the more they remain the same.”

He said the country’s politicians measure themselves against each other in what has become a downward spiral.

“The country remains as divided as ever.”

He predicted for the general election next year neither party will have a majority of seats and the split will likely be 21-20 seats either way.

“In such a vacuum of leadership at the highest level, the media has an increasing role to play.”

In his address Pantin also lamented the way TT treats its history. He recalled that after the recent death of his former media colleague, sports journalist Dave Lamy, there were no recordings of his work. He also said there were no video recordings of local television cooking pioneer Sylvia Hunt, who was given a posthumous award at the ceremony. He lamented that some recordings from TTT were lost because they were damaged during the attempted coup.

He also encouraged his colleagues not to look to politicians for leadership, to fight for the industry and to support each other.

“Don’t tear each other down.”

He said if the local media do not improve their game they would be no different from social media.

But, he urged, “We can become a reliable counter to fake news.”

Pantin said there has been a tendency in the last few years to build reporting around personalities, and everyone is working on building their own brand.

Rather, he said, “I urge all young serious journalists to focus on the basics.”

He said journalists and presenters of the past never stopped to tell people how hard they were working, but “they just got it done.”

He cited journalists like Ed Fung, Dale Kolasingh, Neil Guiseppi, Raoul Pantin, Dominic Kalipersad and Newsday executive editorial consultant Jones P Madeira, who was in attendance, saying “Hard work and journalistic credibility was their brand.”

The Youth Entrepreneurship for Self-Empowerment programme received the community excellence award at the event.