‘Muckraking newspaper’ skews libel suit reportage in favour of defendants
KAIETEUR News, which describes itself as a propagator of ethical journalism, but which was described as a “muckraking newspaper” by US embassy official Benjamin Canavan, has been accused of biased reporting by litigating lawyers in the libel suit brought by His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo and its controversial columnist, Freddy Kissoon; moreso on a case that is sub judice.
Racist fare is some of the muck constantly raked up by that newspaper and that particular columnist, almost on a daily basis; but Guyana’s President has said “Enough is enough.” As Head-of-State with overarching responsibility for peace in the nation, and recognizing the inherent dangers a constant fare of inflammatory rhetoric could pose to the peace of the land, he made a judgment call to challenge the racists in the nation – head on, as is his style of dealing with challenging and controversial situations.
But even a court trial has not managed to silence the muckrakers; because they have managed to transform the court trial and subsequent reporting into a litany of Indo-Guyanese bashing.
The muck being raked on the trial so far by the Kaieteur News is defending the trio of defendants’ right to allude to the President as a racist and not on the actual events and merits of the case as is unfolding in the courtroom; creating the illusion that they are justified in their rhetoric and that the plaintiff is wrong to sue them for committing libel for that allusion of his being a racist – a serious charge against a leader of a nation of such racial and cultural diversity as Guyana.
The arguments that only Indian-Guyanese are being employed in key positions are being used by defending lawyers – AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan; Nigel Hughes, husband of AFC executive member Cathy Hughes,  and Christopher Ram, Stabroek News columnist and presidential aspirant, who drafted the 2006 PNC Manifesto, despite the President’s legal team objecting to all the extraneous arguments being allowed by the court.
While reporting on the allegations of government in general, and President Jagdeo in particular making appointments and awarding contracts only to Indians, that newspaper has not been reporting on the grounds cited for objections to those accusations by litigating counsel, Anil Nandalall; so all the muck is splashed in headlines on a daily basis, as is the practice of all “muckraking newspapers”.