THE “miracles” appearing at the Radha Krishna and other mandirs in Guyana is a newsworthy event and should have been covered by the media houses.

In this regard, I applaud the Guyana Chronicle for providing coverage of the event informing us about it internationally.

This in no way endorses the existence of “miracles” but informs the public of an event that has drawn the attention of “believers” and curious onlookers.

Since as a teenager at City College during the 1970s, I was reporting news. My editor, Robyn Guilford of the Campus Newspaper, under the guidance of Prof. Ernest Boynton, would have classified the “miracle” as newsworthy. Guyana Chronicle is on the right track.

By any definition of news, the miracle event is newsworthy. The issue for news coverage is not confirmation of a miracle but the newsworthy aspect of the event that has attracted hundreds daily and thousands, from all faiths and ethnicities, since the miracle began two Mondays ago.

And on this subject, Guyana Chronicle outclassed the other media houses.

I am no scholar of journalism but from my limited knowledge of news reporting, an event is newsworthy depending, among other factors, on its significance, timing, and interest to the reading public.

The “Goddesses miracle” is significant because of the large number of people who visited the temples to see it, because of faith (at least 25% of the nation believes in it), because it appears so close to the holiest (fasting) Navratri period in Hinduism, and because so many people want to learn more about it.

And there is also the human interest in, and the emotive aspect of, the story – of how people feel about it.  I can assure the Guyanese media that if the event had occurred in another country, it would have received prominent news coverage. Using virtually any definition of news makes the “miracle event” newsworthy.

I should note that in September, Goddess Durga and her two feminine reincarnations, Goddesses Saraswati and Lakshmi, were “drinking” milk from devotees in several mandirs in Trinidad.

The event “made the news” in the newspapers, TV stations, and the radios. The Guyana miracle is no different.  Thousands of worshippers visited the Trinidad mandirs and offered milk to the murthis which accepted the milk.

The media did not say they confirm that miracle but rather reported on what transpired as the reporters saw the event.

Some years ago, murthis at Guyanese Joan’s Store on Liberty Avenue, was also drinking milk and all the mainstream news outlets (newspapers, TV, radio) as well as local Caribbean media descended and covered the event as news – they also did not have the power to decide on whether it was a miracle or not.

Two years ago, at the home of a Guyanese in Jamaica, New York, a flower took the shape of Lord Ganesh (the first God worshipped by Hindus in any pooja, as per instruction from Lord Shiva).

All the mainstream media houses covered the event as thousands (of all ethnicities and faiths) converged on the Guyanese backyard.

It was described as a miracle by the news media, as believers described it.  The media did not decide on whether the event was a miracle – just report it as news.
The Trinidad media has reported on the Guyana miracle. The event has attracted ‘considerable public attention internationally’, thanks to the Guyana Chronicle.

Even some Guyanese from North America flew down to observe the miracle because of the Chronicle coverage.
Thank you, Chronicle!