JUST yesterday, I was talking about getting the Christmas spirit, and now it seems reckless journalism has put a damper on it.Old Kai is generally a very reserved individual, but I still cannot get over the shock and angst that came upon me after reading an article in the Kaieteur News, wherein the Editor-in-Chief and former PNC New Nation front man, Adam Harris, called a certain female who functions in a very public position a prostitute.

Interestingly, Adam, who was also the head man at Chronicle during the PNC dictatorship, apparently has a history of implying or outrightly making such inferences in the Kaieteur News, as part of its ongoing campaign to sell newspapers using whatever means necessary.

I do not mind using satire to take jabs at our public leaders in society; after all, that is what Old Kai does best. This is a reality under a new era of democracy. I can also understand if a newspaper has a political affiliation, as that is normal in any country. For me, the notion of a balanced media outfit is ‘hogwash’. Any justification for such a position died when ‘Jesus asked for any without sin to come forth and throw the first stone’. In short, anyone and everyone have biases; it is a natural instinct.
But there is a line which should never be crossed, and Kaieteur News has been guilty of this on countless occasions (almost every single day).

Imagine the shame, the harm, and the ridicule Adam Harris, Glenn Lall and their Kaieteur News outfit have now caused this woman, her husband, their children (if any) and extended family. It is a stain which will last a lifetime, and no amount of apologies will ever repair that damage.

Clearly, these individuals have no respect whatsoever for our women folk in society, as, — I repeat — they have used similar statements in the past to describe other females. I am told a longstanding journalist with the Chronicle has been one of their victims.

Never in a million years would I have ever imagined that I would have referred to individuals as ‘victims of a newspaper’. Just as a criminal uses his gun to slaughter his victim, Kaieteur News has used its pen to slaughter its victims psychologically; and anyone will tell you that physical wounds may heal, but no one can see the wounds inside the mind of someone, and usually that wound will never heal.

What this shows is the level of desperation of these people, and Guyanese must now ask serious questions of themselves. Do you want to support an entity which constantly attacks your womenfolk and destroy their reputation by labelling them ‘prostitutes’?
Is this how we honour the women that gave birth to us and who struggled to give us a firm footing in life?

Make no mistake about it, this attack is not just on that public official, it is an attack on all women of Guyana. Whether you are rich or poor; APNU, AFC or PPP; Hindu, Christian or Muslim; Rasta or Baha’i; black, white or brown; Chinese, African, Indian, Portuguese or Amerindian; a cleaner or a businesswoman; a student or a teacher, you have been labelled.

You are being brutalized not physically, but psychologically. You are being mentally beaten into submission. You are being conditioned to think that you are not meant to strive for advancement in life, moreso public office; that you are better off being ‘chattels for men’, and that if you ever dare seek public office and speak up for what you believe is right, you will be embarrassed publicly by the Kaieteur News.
Clearly, they feel that they are all powerful and they can control people’s minds in this country through their nasty propaganda; and that you, like a robot after years of conditioning your mind, will come day after day to buy their words of hate.

By calling that woman a ‘prostitute’ just to sell more newspapers and make more money, what does that make you — Kaieteur News?