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I noticed that Melaine Stewart picks up on a most important topic, that of “Fair Journalism.” She seems rightfully piqued over the “Plain Talk” show which posited the view that it is acceptable to report only sensational stories and ignore development- related news that is positive, from a governmental perspective. Specifically, in that ‘ Plain Talk’ show which was hosted by Christopher Ram, Mr. Adam Harris venomously accused the Guyana Times newspaper and its affiliate TVG 28 of being the “ state looking private media”. Instantly I thought of the Kaieteur News. And why? Here are the factors.
First, Harris is the editor of Kaieteur News, and the newspaper has a tenor of going ‘all out’ to give the government a negative image. This newspaper, both via language and graphics has ‘gone that extra mile’ in negatively sensationalising any and everything, so long as the government is going to be besmirched. So if it is a case of GTV 28 and Guyana Times’ being philosophically and politically oriented, at least, the mission has no vitiating of others as a goal. This cannot be said of Kaieteur News. In fact, one of its columnists has openly avowed that his ‘duty’ is to ‘look’ for the negative. I can opine here that one is likely to find what he is looking for with this kind of mindset. In fact, the danger here is that he may even fabricate to suit his slant.
On the other hand, GTV 28 and Guyana Times have been seen in a different light, and a little history will suffice here. When the entities were taken over by their current leaders, their demise was predicted. That prophetic utterance back then now seems more of a desire than an insightful prediction. Also, it is always good to ‘bring the evidence.’ These are known facts, and can be readily verified: audience size (viewership and reading) has been ever increasing; even if the philosophy has a political bias, there is no overt attempt to ridicule and malign; and as regards efficiency, the staff have come a long way and are characterized by a strong fidelity. So by virtue of a simple comparison, the gap is most noticeable.
I close with a simple suggestion for the Kaieteur News (and any other person or entity, bent on negative sensationalism): that it is prudent to realize and accept that one can be of a particular suasion, yet proper journalism entails that there be fairness, decency and accuracy. So one can choose the item to report on, but do the reporting professionally.
