TO put it in its mildest term, the Kaieteur News is beyond the shadow of a doubt nakedly prostituting the noble profession of journalism and the relating freedoms that are the cornerstones of the profession. We cannot help, but make mention, that for some time now, the owner and this tabloid have been engaged in an ongoing exercise of dirty, yellow, gutter journalism aimed at besmirching the character of many a decent and respected people in society, including politicians, professionals and others of very reputable business background.
People are of the opinion that the Kaieteur News and its owners are masquerading under the freedoms and democracies that were so valiantly fought for by the very party in government now, while it was in the opposition. It will be recalled that during those twenty eight years in the opposition, the PPP under the leadership of the late Dr. Cheddi Jagan, whose 94th birth anniversary Guyanese are currently celebrating, led and fought relentless struggles for a better way of life for all the people of this country.
These years of unending struggles were also characterised by demands for the return of democracy which included free and fair elections, freedom of expression and  freedom of the press. These freedoms were fought for by the blood, tears and sweat of those Guyanese who were ready to pay the high price for the cause, while others were selling pants length in the market and on the streets.
The people also recall the days under the PNC government led by Prime Minister and later President, Forbes Burnham, when the government of the day was doing everything in its power to crush the Mirror Newspaper which was associated with the struggles for the return of democracy. We recall that on no less than two occasions workers of the Mirror had to be sent home for weeks because of the lack of newsprint. We recall the blunt refusal by the PNC government to issue licence to the Mirror to import newsprint. This by itself was a flagrant violation of freedom of the press.
This violation of press freedom also infringed the right of the people to receive and disseminate information without interference. Coupled to this was also the PNC government’s denial of licence to the Mirror to import a Goss Offset Press which would have improved the all-round print quality of the Mirror. These administrative denials, some of which were subject to court hearings, only caused the struggle for democracy and freedom of the press to sharpen. All of this was happening while some people were still immersed with the selling of pants length.
Things have however changed now, and suddenly a millionaire, maybe a billionaire was made. This man now owns a modern printing press, creatio ex nihilo. This man is now using his newspaper and his toadies to throw dirt on the character of decent-minded citizens. The fundamentals of all these freedoms that have been fought for by others are now being flouted left, right and centre by this man and his cohorts.
The Kaieteur News and its owner have now embarked on a path of lawlessness and recklessness. The newspaper’s most recent invective appeared on March 22, 2012 under the headline: “Three years after teen’s torture- Nandlall backpeddles on six million dollars compensation.” This quite appropriately drew the wrath of Mr. Anil Nandlall, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs who fittingly responded in this newspaper yesterday under the headline: “Nandlall accuses Kaieteur News of abusing press freedom.
This could be no further from the truth as for some time now the Kaieteur News has been relying on steady doses of lies and sensationalism at the expense of the nation’s intelligence in order to sell copies of the tabloid. Of course this is throwing all journalistic ethics and principles in the dump heap. The utterings of that newspaper and its underlings are nothing short of cesspool journalism and a real insult of the intelligence of the Guyanese readers who unknowingly is fed daily dosages of the effluence that flows from the pages of the Kaieteur News.
We have reached a stage now in our democracy in which we have to be on guard for those people who are hell bent in creating anarchy, confusion and confrontation. The time has come for the authorities to take serious note of all these atrocities and take corrective action, before the monster grows bigger and becomes more difficult to control.