JOURNALISM and its practice are  meant to be carried out in accordance with certain defined  principles which  define the quality of the particular media house’s function and output of reported  issues. Try  impressing  such  a given on the Kaieteur News, and one would realise that it is a most futile exercise. In fact, this print medium has torn to shreds all the laid down tenets of practising media principles. Its list of  reporting  inaccuracies  and  misrepresentations  are voluminous. But it is well known that such a strategy  has  a larger play in its political vendetta against the PPP/C government, which achievements it has sought to denigrate,  all in the name of the  political parties which  views it seeks to represent.
Cumulatively, its actions reek  of total disrespect for even the most basic of media principles, that demand a verification of an issue or occurrence, before the story is printed.
Thus, it has come as no surprise that this  newspaper, well known for its  culture of misrepresentation, found its editor, a veteran media practitioner of years standing and  a junior reporter, appearing before a Supreme Court judge on a charge of contempt. This was a result of  an inaccurate report  relative to a murder trial over which he presided.
For any media house to report on judicial proceedings in a manner that can be deemed unprofessional, reckless, and without due care, is clearly disrespectful  of  the tenets of justice. It is indeed a very “serious offence”, as the honourable judge emphasised. Such misrepresentation  has  the effect of distorting the facts as pertaining to the particular  trial, with the implications for proper justice enormous. It explains, why  the  accused will have to face a new trial.
Of course, the judge is absolutely correct in imposing sanctions on the two accused.  But as to whether such will cause this media house to re-examine its unethical culture, is very doubtful, given its campaign of hate against progressivity.