Opposition members' hollow 'protect press freedom' cries

GEORGE ELIAS

I have come to accept that no matter how offensive or hypocritical an opinion may seem in a particular moment, it can still be put to good use. It can still be a great teacher. So, I begin this writing by thanking both Opposition Senator Wade Mark and Opposition MP Rudranath Indarsingh for this teachable moment, and for the opportunity they have given me to impart some wisdom.

Further to the proceedings at the recent annual general meeting of One Caribbean Media (OCM), both of the aforementioned gentlemen were quick to applaud that private media company's defiance in the face of government’s attempt to have two directors appointed to the board, even as they admit that the block of shares representing 23 per cent ownership in the company belongs to the people of TT.

Regardless of which argument you choose, conflict of interest or manipulation of the media, one cannot help but be struck by the irony of UNC politicians complaining about government interference in the media.

Especially since, up until now, this government has been patient with regard to its stake in OCM, and that its overall legacy in terms of how it has interacted with the press in its two terms in office, is nowhere as intrusive or, dare I say, dangerous as the experiences of 1995-2001 and 2010- 2015.

To wit, one may recall, it was the actions of then prime minister Basdeo Panday which led to the dismissal of the editor in chief, the managing director and much of the newsroom at the Trinidad Guardian in 1996 – an event which triggered the irreversible decline of the country's oldest newspaper.

That same former prime minister was found guilty of slandering Ken Gordon, then head of OCM's predecessor company, Caribbean Communications Network (CCN), having described him in a particularly offensive term during a 1997 political rally.

So tenuous was the situation then, that the Committee to Protect Journalists described it as such: "Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, ... has spent much of his five years in office feuding with the media..."

The Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led government's history with the media, was similarly riddled with questionable occurrences, which Mark and Indarsingh should bear in mind as they cheer on the local press today.

Who from among their ranks would dare to defend the near daily presence of certain cabinet members and party operatives in the newsroom at CNMG (Caribbean New Media Group)?

Who would condemn the unceremonious sacking of Fazeer Mohammed from the CNMG's morning show, simply for doing his job as a journalist? Fazeer asked difficult questions of a particular minister and instead of receiving truthful responses, was fired.

And what of the then government’s denial of a work permit to veteran broadcast journalist and Caricom national, Julian Rogers? Where is the evidence of either Wade Mark or Rudy Indarsingh's support for a free press back then?

I would like to say that this represents the full extent of that former administration's attempts to control the narrative, but I fear it is far from it. There has been multiple claims of both the carrot and the stick being used routinely.

From threats to Christmas grocery vouchers, to a statistical anomaly in HDC allocations when it came to certain media workers...it is clear what was the objective the previous administration had in mind.

In light of the above, I can state categorically that the present administration has not been guilty of any of the same excesses in its two terms to date.

Given its documented reticence in the affairs of its wholly-owned media house, would either gentleman care to provide some evidence, that in seeking the board appointment of two directors, out of a team of 11 (which the government is more than entitled to), that the present administration is undermining the free press in TT?

Moreover, when one contemplates the fact that without a majority on the said board, and with a functioning firewall in place, how could any shareholder – State or otherwise – assume an advantageous enough position that would allow it to run roughshod over the newsrooms at OCM?

At the end of the day, it is indeed we the citizens, the true shareholder, who remain the loser on the other side of all this gaslighting and hypocrisy.