THE front page article captioned “State- Terrorism in Guyana” in the Monday September 12, 2011 edition of the Kaieteur News constitutes yet another journalistic stunt by that newspaper to put the government in bad light and project its highly questionable image as an anti-corruption crusader. The latest accusation by the newspaper that the government has launched an immoral and malevolent campaign against its publisher Glenn Lall is a colossal hoax to say the least, as from all indications it represents a brazen attempt to silence real investigative journalism.
It is the sacred duty of professional journalists to get to the bottom of a story, and shed light on incidents of corruption, mischief and hypocrisy to name a few among a long list of other distasteful practices.
The Kaieteur News is well known for “splashing” the names of public officials and institutions on its front page and carrying repeated follow-ups for days, many littered with distortions, conveying the strong impression that the newspaper has a virtual monopoly on “sludge journalism”.  It is no secret that the newspaper has been profiteering from this brand of reporting which apparently it deliberately chooses at the expense of thorough, balanced and verified coverage of issues.
How can the reportage of two daily newspapers (which have embraced ethical journalism) on leaked U.S. cables on WikiLeaks about Lall’s alleged “dark” activities be seen as harmful to him?
The Kaieteur News has been massaging the cables to its own whims and fancies and has been producing the most vile and scathing reports of the government, and shamelessly, it saw nothing wrong with peddling these views to readers.
The approach by Kaieteur News is that I am right to say anything  about you that is contained in the U.S. cables, but it is wrong for you to carry any report on the cables that says damning things about Kaieteur News and its publisher.
And so when more refined and professionally compiled reports are made of Lall on the very source of information, he screams his innocence and accuses the writers of being government cronies, and in more desperation, charges that the government is engaging in state terrorism and is inviting  retaliation against him.
Herein lies a startling, but subtle admission. Careful reading will inform readers that Lall is sounding his guilt with the use of the word retaliation. The logic is clear as day and readers do not have to be rocket scientists to know that one can only attract  retaliation if one has done something to cause discomfort to someone or a particular group of people.
The Kaieteur News here is insinuating that the probing reports of the two daily newspapers will force some people whom Lall alleged fingered in the drug trade to get even with him. By virtue of the context of the pronouncement by Kaieteur News and by the action of Lall as reported by the U.S. cable, Lall has invited retaliation on himself. It therefore means that the concealed thrust of the Kaieteur News article was to use artful subterfuge to hoodwink readers and blame others in a desperate attempt to clear Lall’s name.
One should not forget that the Kaieteur News carried several critical reports about the government on the cables from the U.S. embassy.  The U.S embassy also made several damning observations about Lall, and in one cable he was described as someone with a sketchy past who has his finger firmly on the pulse of Guyana’s criminal underworld. “He has translated a shoe trading business and rumoured involvement with alien smuggling into a ‘muckraking’ newspaper,” the cable said.