The Nation Is At It Again

Submitted by Barbados Election Watch

Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart

One can now be left in no doubt that the Nation Newspaper has set itself the agenda of getting rid of Prime Minister Stuart at all cost. On more than one occasion, contributors to this blog have drawn attention to the unmistakably biased approach of that paper towards the Prime Minister of Barbados. It would seem that  whatever he does, or fails to do, no matter that he conducts himself with the highest level of decorum, and honesty he can be the subject of some form of ridicule . Very recently noted historian and  veteran trade unionist Mr Robert Bobby Morris drew attention to the way the Prime Minister was depicted by the paper when it sought to comment in a front page  article on the results of the CADRES poll . Mr Stuart the tallest of the persons presented in a form of picture chart , was made to look like some puny midget in a straight-jacket while the others , of shorter stature , were much more favourably presented. Other persons have been commenting on the kinds of photos of Mr Stuart that the paper has been recently using in its efforts to ridicule him in some form or fashion .

Today however, the newspaper has done its worst. The BIG BOLD HEADLINES IN RED SCREAMED …” NOT A WORD”. BHTA head says PM has not responded to request for meeting “It was a story by a Gercine Carter in which the paper has outdone itself in its efforts at  vilification . The Prime Minister was being ” rapped for failing to respond to a Barbados Hotel Association ( BHTA ) request for an urgent meeting to discuss the  plight of the Island’s vital tourism industry “. It went further to state that “the Prime Minister’s priorities were yesterday called into question by the outgoing president of the BHTA, Colin Jordan, who pointed to Stuart’s promptness in meeting with Cuban ex-convict Raul Garcia at Dodds Prison recently, while a letter requesting the meeting more than two months ago had not been acknowledged to date “.

Timing Is Everything: When To Call The Next Barbados General Election

Submitted by Yardbroom

Owen Arthur, Leader of the opposition (l) Fruendel Stuart, Prime Minister (r)

After the death of Prime Minister David Thompson, no sooner had the funeral ceremony been respectably completed with much deserved ceremony befitting a Prime Minister in Office, when the call was made to the DLP, call a general election.

I said then an election should not be called.  Many here (BU) disagreed and still do judging by recent comments.  I will explain later the reasons underpinning my position.  There was a lot of public sympathy for Mr. Thompson, the circumstances of his death, coupled with his relatively young age were significant factors.  That this public sympathy could be translated into votes was evidenced by the successful campaign launched by his wife – Mara Thompson – now elected to Parliament….I am aware of her previous work in the constituency that not withstanding.  It was felt by a vocal segment that on a larger scale public sympathy could be exploited, thus handing victory to the DLP in a general election.

It is true an election could have been called by Prime Minister Stuart, but allow me to rewind and remind you of the circumstances then.  The DLP had only been in office for a short time and prior to the election it was said by the BLP that the DLP did not have the experience to govern Barbados.  That obviously had not been put to the test over time, it was therefore incumbent on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to put any doubt to bed.  It was also believed there was dissent in the DLP with a myriad of members jockeying for leadership of the Party.

Time To Question The Political DNA Of Media Houses On Fontabelle

…what has been the role of the media, can the media be bought or can the media push one agenda rather than another, rather than present the truth by getting the facts, all the facts and let people decide. It is about our intelligensia having the intellectual honesty to either declare who they support or give an unbiased view …

Sandra Husbands

The quote above is timely because it again brings to the fore the role of local media in civil society. Is there a local body which can be held accountable by the public if there is a need to question ‘journalistic ethics’? As far as BU is aware the Barbados Association of Journalists ( BAJ) has not suggested it has the the mandate to perform such a task. Here is an example, on page 9A of the Sunday Sun June 19, 2011, in an article titled ‘The way to health reform’ published under the by-line Sandra Husbands (Guest Column). Blatant in its omission was the fact the Nation newspaper did not indicate that Sandra Husbands is the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate to oppose Minister Donville Inniss in St. James South when the bell is rung for the next general election. The article robustly attacked her political foe which makes the omission all the more irresponsible.

Recently the Nation newspaper severed seasoned journalists Chris Gollop and Wade Gibbons. BU understands the two had signalled an interest to accept a ‘package’ when the Nation sent home the first set of employees, Adonijah et al.. The Nation management, it seems, took the opportunity to part company with the two in the most recent sending home of employees. We find the decision interesting because with the dearth of journalistic talent at the Nation and beyond one would have thought the management at that newspaper would have vetoed Messrs’ Gollop and Gibbons request to leave. The deed is done but it forced BU to share a suspicion we have about goings-on at the Fontebelle newspaper.

Is The Barbados Population Being Properly Served By Its News Media?

Submitted by Yardbroom

 

The late great American writer Walter Lippmann said:

“The journalist’s role was to inform the public of what the elite’s were doing.  It was also to act as a watchdog over the elites, as the public had the final say with their votes”.

Within the above framework, ” journalism’s first obligation is to tell the truth”.

Why should journalists inform us: ” because an informed public is the only one that can correctly assess whether the society it inhabits is going off the rails”.

Perhaps I should say at the outset, this article has no political polemic, it is not for or against the BLP or DLP.  This should not be necessary, but regrettably a few of us, see every discourse through a narrow focus of political allegiance.

I put it to you, that a few too many of the major decisions, which have been taken in Barbados recently, were to the disadvantage of its citizens; and they possibly would not have been taken, had the electorate been better informed.  There was not the rigorous examination of proposals in the News Media, one would expect.  A couple projects, costing many millions of dollars were not properly examined, and because it was expedient not to “analyse” but to quietly “report” on what had been agreed, the almost empty cupboard, spewed out dollars with a haste that bordered on the obscene.

To be blunt the public were not “informed”, in the journalistic sense.

Without rigorous examination, journalists acquiesced to what history had taught them was a fait accompli.  The public accustomed to no more, accepted what they saw, as the engine turned in the background spewing tax payers dollars to the wind.

The Barbados Advocate, A Disgrace To The Fourth Estate

Attorney Alvin David Bryan (right) and Wilfred Abrahams (left)

Most people (used reservedly given the Advocate’s circulation numbers) have read the self-serving apologia in the editorial section of the Advocate directed at the Bajan blogosphere, in defense of what many agree is a toothless Fourth Estate of Barbados. A Fourth Estate that blandly and blindly follows the beat of the drum of whichever political party it is affiliated to, ignores glaring incidents of injustice in the Courts of Barbados and refuses to take members of government to task, even if the evidence jumps up and bites them on the gluteus maximus.

A few examples :-

• Barbados is taken to court in Canada in a civil lawsuit with costs running (on both sides) to almost BDS$16 million. This lawsuit involves the future of over 1% of Barbados’ total landmass, the purchase of  influence of the Fifth Estate (blogs) at BDS1,300.00 per week, the establishment of a blog in Miami, Florida, the collection of shredded documents in Barbados and their shipment to Canada to be reconstituted, the surveillance of the former wife of Owen Arthur, the surveillance of the family and person of former Attorney General Mia Mottley in Florida, the staking out of the Barbados consular mission in Miami Florida and the proposal to follow and stalk employees of that mission, contributing to the upkeep and election aspirations of Minister Denis Lowe (including importing Canadian experts to assist with his election), the use of false names and documents, the jail sentence of one of the parties who is now a fugitive from justice. Barbados wins the case in Canada and all is REVEALED. The case is fully and completely reported BU (Go to Search Box and use ‘Peter Allard’), with full document back-up. Yet, neither the Nation or the Advocate has even attempted to report on the matter. For them, it is as though it has never existed and the BDS16 million it cost is nothing – to the extent, we have to ask if one blog was paid BDS1,300 per week by Peter Allard, how much were others paid? The only other explanation is dereliction of duty as members of the Fourth Estate. Sub judice cannot be used as an excuse here.

Cynical Reporting And Hidden Agendas

Credit: The Advocate Newspaper

Submitted by George Brathwaite

First of all I would like to commend the various media houses in Barbados for doing a reasonable job in reporting information to the public. However, there can and will be always room for improvements.

For some time now, I have become aware of a seeming change in traditional standards (i.e. declining) wherein the trend in news reporting in Barbados draws merited scepticism. Newspapers, for instance, protect their turf with an uncanny attachment toward their undeclared political interests and expect the general public to assume neutrality. To a large extent, the Barbados Advocate newspaper appears foremost in this indefensible circumstance.

After noticing the headlines of Wednesday 14 July 2010, which in bold typeface, communicates that Barbados Int‟l Reserves Increase, I felt heartened and confused simultaneously. This attention-grabber was coming on the heels of another electronic version, Barbados Today, in which that headline courted the notion that things were UNCERTAIN in the economy; this was substantiated in the Barbados Daily Nation appearing under the caption Gloomy Outcome and for which the first sentence states, “Central Bank Governor Dr Delisle Worrell says the outlook for Barbados‟ economy is uncertain.” Certainly there are mixed (i.e. different) messages being conveyed to the reader between the reporting of the Advocate and the two news carriers alluded to in this paragraph.

The Blooming Of A Thousand Flowers Ready To Launch Assault On The Culture Of Silence Suffocating Barbados

The verdict on the recent application by the Barbados Light & Power Company for a rate hike promised by the Chairman of the Fair Trading Commission  (FTC) Sir Neville Nicholls passed without any serious notice by the media earlier this month. The media given its responsibility within the Fourth Estate of the Realm has failed the PEOPLE yet again given its responsibility to keep us informed. The blatant renege by the Fourth Estate of its important civil responsibility means that most Barbadians remain ignorant to the important issues affecting them.

The Head of the Barbados Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (BANGO) Roosevelt King when asked by BU the possible reason for the delay gave the following response:

“Through fear tactics, psychological warfare, oppression and violence many people have been forced physically and mentally, [to not exercise] their right to voice their opinions or their desires to fight against the oppression that they experience. The people are forced to believe, and later come to identify with, the idea that the oppressor has supreme power and is working in the favor of the people. As a result a culture of quiet, non resistant, passive if you will, people are born. This Culture of Silence is longstanding and continues because the people continue to allow the destruction and the oppression to occur, not because they want to, but because fighting against the oppressor seems futile. Those that do fight are eradicated and made examples of in the attempt to silence future attempts at reform. – Author unknown – internet posting”

Be reminded Mr. King’s BANGO participated in the just concluded FTC/BL&P rate hike application.

Nation Editorial Under The Microscope

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Roxanne Gibbs - Executive Editor Nation Newspaper

Today’s Nation editorial makes for interesting reading. On another blog BU made the point that our Fourth Estate needs to demonstrate a duty of care when reporting news. If it does not it will have the inevitable effect of diminishing the integrity of the profession. The topic of the editorial is worthy but the content has fallen woefully short in our opinion.

Not to bore the BU family we have snipped extracts from the editorial to demonstrate our point:

Just this week, the acting general manager of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), Dr John Mwanza, advised Barbadians that if they didn’t stop wasting their precious water, they could face another rate increase.

One possible reason for the hike: the BWA might have to import water from neighbouring Dominica to keep local levels up. Well, what could be wrong with a neighbourly solution to one’s island problem? Nothing, really, short of a military invasion or intervention.

How many times have Barbadians been told not to waste water? This maybe true but how will such a call resonate with Barbadians when it is known 60% of the water escapes from our distribution system because of leaks? What about the fact burst water mains are sighted daily all over Barbados and Barbadians have to literally beg Barbados Water Authority personnel to repair the bursts? How will this state of affairs create a culture of water conservation in Barbados?

Nation Newspaper Creates News Based On Unscientific Cellphone Poll

Barbados Nation Newspaper Cartoon - 09 November 2009

Submitted as a comment by Adrian Hinds

Two accepted scientific polls with results unfavourable to Mia Mottley, followed by two questionable polls that are favourable to her. The latter enabled by the Nation newspaper; coincident, or a deliberate attempt to create news rather than report it?

We should remember the 2007-8 Cadres poll that suggested 20-10 victory for the DLP in the 2008 Jan 15 national election. We should remember the counter poll by Boxill that sought to counter Cadres projections and results.

Another Cadres poll with statistics that Mia Mottley does not like so the Nationnews decided to counter or is it contained the results of that poll with a text message unscientific poll and has sought to highlight and publicize the results as if they were or could ever be provable “statements of Facts”.

During all of this traditional media employees are reminding us that they  check and recheck facts.

Is The NATION Newspaper Service NISE Compliant?

Submitted by Adrian Loveridge

Must reasonable people can understand when organisations have a problem, but it’s how you deal with it that’s important and how you communicate with people that are keeping you in business. It’s 3.45pm and still no paid-for Sunday Sun has been delivered.

Calls to the 1) Circulation Manager, 2) After hours Distribution, (3) News Hotline, 4) Customer Experience and 5) Eric Holder (Circulation Manager) home number all meet with FULL voicemail boxes. Eventually yesterday late into the afternoon our Saturday Sun was delivered.

Yes! there are presumably paid ‘ad’s on at least one radio station telling us that today’s edition will be late, but 4pm plus to get a daily paper? And what value is there to those companies paying to advertise in the publication?

Will Nation Publishing refund those that have locked into paid subscription.?

It’s Your Move!

Roxanne Gibbs - Executive Editor Nation Newspaper

Two weeks have passed since the Nation newspaper printed the front page story which declared that the government’s political strategist Hartley Henry had threatened Nation newspaper Sunday Sun Editor Carol Martindale. The management of the Fontebelle newspaper reacted swiftly to that telephone call made on the Saturday afternoon by going to  print hours later to meet the next day edition. To demonstrate the seriousness of how the action by Henry was received, the Royal Barbados Police Force was summons, a letter dispatched to Prime Minister David Thompson and other correspondence sent to international media watchdog agencies.

The dust has settled somewhat and some Barbadians who have remained above the partisan prattle are starting to ask the tough questions. BU has a few of our own as well.

1. Did Carol Martindale have a conversation with leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley concerning the DLP sponsored CADRES poll before it was published?
2. Is it true the telephone call between Henry and Martindale was NOT recorded?
3. Is it true the witness to part of the telephone call between Martindale and Henry at the Nation end was not party to sufficient of the conversation to validate the charge which has been made by Martindale?
4. Is it true the Nation newspaper maybe facing a law suit given the flimsy evidence used to support their actions?

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.

Adonijah Sent Packing By Nation Group, Read All About It!

Arising from an earlier blog Down By The Riverside fellow blogger from the Living In Barbados Blog expressed the view that  private enterprise must be allowed to manage to stay afloat and make money for shareholders (parsing). We have no problem with that position, the flip side however is that BU has the freedom to critique the genuineness of decisions taken as we perceive them. As a corporate citizen the public’s perception should be of value to the Nation Group of Companies.

We are aware that three hundred daily newspapers have gone out of business in the last 25 years in the United States. We are aware that the main reason from the drop in circulation has been because the younger readers have been tapping into Internet based sources like blogs, free online news sources etc.

Unfortunately we have to take the word of the OCM Group Chairman Sir Fred Gollop about the reason for sending home Adonijah and 20+ other media workers from the Nation Group of Companies last week. He mentioned about increase cost in newsprint blah blah blah. We have access to the OCM consolidated financial statement for 2008, what we don’t know is how the Barbados companies performed vis-a-vis others in the OCM Group. We have to guess.