No Threat To Press Freedom It’s All About ‘The Connection’

Hartley Henry - DLP Political Strategist

Barbadians are truly ‘something else’. The hundreds of calls, texts and mails I have received over the past four days suggest that I need not say very much in response to certain allegations, because people already know about ‘the connection’.

I thought I had stumbled upon a dark, grey secret with respect to why a certain person enjoys seemingly unfettered access to a particular publication, week in and week out. But every mode and means of communication has been used in recent days to convey to me graphic details of ‘the connection’. What I thought was a piece of ‘hot, juicy news’ turned out to be ‘a particle of rich history’; for Sam Cuch, the Duppy and their in-laws know all about ‘the connection’.

‘The connection’ apparently did not start yesterday, last month or even last year. ‘The connection’ has been ongoing for years now and apparently has been a rocky road for one, characterized, as has now become the norm with cohorts of the aggressor, by an enormous amount of abuse. I am hearing now of blows to the face, blows to the head, blows about the body and even attempts at slitting the wrist. I am also told of the entry of a company head honcho into the “ling”, and the moving out and moving in with the said heavy roller. This heavy roller must be packing a mean punch, kick and especially lick to have two bosses in so pitiful a state, lying prostrate at every beck and call.

That an institution, so once revered and respected, would permit itself to be used and manipulated in so vulgar a fashion is amazing. The foreign owners really need to come to Bim and investigate the moral cesspool that has developed within those walls. It is no longer what it once was. It no longer serves the purpose for which it was created.

Not everyone on the inside is willing to look the other way. The fact that I know of the telephone conversation that preceded the now well publicized call, indicates that not everyone is in agreement with that which is going on. There is gratitude to this writer for bringing certain truths to light.

There is nothing personal about this intervention. But I detest hypocrisy and self righteousness. I am absolutely amazed by the sordid details of incidents and occurrences taking place under that roof, involving the higher of higher ups who are supposed to be setting examples. “Run the desk for me. Tonight is my night, tomorrow is yours”…and up to the nest they go. The whole thing makes Sodom and Gomorrah look like students of theology. In return, the heavy roller gets prominence on demand.

There was no threat to anyone! There was an appeal for fairness and professionalism. There was the assurance that if such was absent on this particular occasion, the world would be sensitized to a chronology of events that point to the aforementioned connection being the source and the cause of unprofessionalism. The exact words were “the whole of Barbados will come to understand how it is that”, a particular individual “can have unfettered access to” a known publication. Little did one know that the entire world, it would appear, was already appraised of the sordid details of the three way connection that has brought a most noble profession to shame.

Those shedding crocodile tears must rewind and reflect on conversations conducted prior to the much publicized call being received. Whom did you speak to after receiving highlights of the survey? What advice was given relative the appropriate response? What assurances were made as to what will not appear where? There is a difference between being threatened and feeling threatened!

If you wish to know about threats and about being threatened cast your mind back, to not so long ago, when other persons were perched on Bay Street. Who could forget the fate of Jerry Richards, Don Norville, Winston Worrel, Carl Ince, Cecil Foster, Adrian Sisnett, Don Singh, Mohammad Saied, Julian Rogers, Muriel Sealy, Ricky Singh, Hugh Foster, Peter Greene, Terry Ally, Reudon Eversley, Rosemary Alleyne and Keith Goddard, to mention but a few. What was the cause of Oliver Jackman resigning from the Elder Statesmen Advisory Group? Which politician was overheard saying that a former big up in the pine ‘would never get a job in the local media again’?

This writer is not a madman. It takes a lot to get him upset.  But several months of examples of systemic unprofessionalism would have had to come to a head at some stage. One does not know whether the publication has wittingly or innocently permitted itself to be used, but the records are there and can be examined by anyone in search of truth.

You cannot be biased and at the same time plead innocence and objectivity. What is good for the goose must be equally good for the gander. You are independent and middle of the road or you are leaning to one side at the expense of the other. If you are biased and have an agenda, it is your right so to be, but do not expect to be treated in the same manner as when you were straight up and professional.

This writer is not intimidated by or afraid of threats and portrayal of being arrogant, vindictive or even anti the freedom of the media. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am a media man to the core. This has nothing to do with press freedom. This is all about ‘the connection’.

Let the world press bodies come in search of truth. I want them to investigate ‘the connection’. Would this and could this have happened anywhere else in the world? Let us go global with ‘the connection’. The National Enquirer would love the details. Call the police! Lay the charges! Let’s all go on the witness stand and be cross examined about character, integrity, professionalism and ‘the connection’. I dare you!!

Hartley Henry is a Regional Political Strategist. He can be reached at hartleyhenry@gmail.com