–Is the ‘Once-Upon a Time’ paper serious?

YOU can imagine Old Kai’s reaction after reading that the people over at the ‘Once-Upon-a-Time’ newspaper are calling on the nation to make an effort to “return civility to Guyana”. Their editorial of March 4, 2014 sought to lecture Guyanese on the topic of ‘civility’ and the role they must play.
One simply cannot get more hypocritical than this, as these are the very people who have used their medium with the public over several years to put over news in a consistently inaccurate manner, so as to cause friction among our people.
Through ‘yellow’ journalism, they have served as a catalyst in attacking the very foundations of civility with which our people interacted with each other. They have reduced journalism to a ‘cuss out’; converted lies into truth through their ‘dem boys seh’ column; accused a senior female public figure of being a ‘prostitute’; attacked people because of their perceived sexual orientation; attacked people because of their physical features such as their weight or height; made scandalous accusations against public individuals, without any evidence, only for the public to learn afterwards that they were wrong; invaded the privacy of people’s homes; targeted any and every critic for abuse and ridicule; used their letter columns to advance their attack against their targets; accused of encouraging corruption by bribing persons for information; accused of offering bribes to sell off their assets; accused of having their ‘fingers firmly on the pulse of the criminal underworld’; have been exposed time and again for publishing fabricated stories and I can go on and on.
These culprits now want to place the blame on innocent citizens for what they perceive to be a breakdown in ‘civility’. To satisfy my ego, I would like to think that it was the constant pressure from Old Kai and the non-stop exposure which made them want to reform their entire operation, after all, they have been paying keen attention to these columns; so much so, that I have inspired them to even use my quotes in their articles.
But it appears this is not the case, as, while on the one hand they are calling on Guyanese to become more civil to each other, it appears this message does not apply to them as they continue with their ‘cuss down’.
At the same time they were making their pleas to society, they were libelling the Attorney-General, Anil of Annandale. The man has joined a lost list of persons to highlight their unfounded attacks and request an apology for tarnishing his character. Their favourite target is former President Bharrat Jagdeo. In fact, they made a national issue out of the man’s recent illness, and the need to charter a jet to the US for medical treatment.
Imagine! BJ recently returned from the Asian sub-continent where, as you know, there are many contagious viruses such as the deadly Asian Influenza, H1N1, or the recently discovered H7N9 virus. Returning to Guyana, he became ill, and the local doctors could not detect the exact nature of his illness, as such viruses are not common in our country. Fearing the worst, it was decided that he charter a flight to the United States rather than risk the possibility of infecting an aircraft full of passengers should his illness have turned out to be one of these deadly strains.
In his concern for other Guyanese, he has now come in for attack by the ‘Once-Upon-a-Time’ newspaper and the usual suspects in the Opposition. It is an abomination to them that he chose to travel on a chartered flight rather than risk the possibility of affecting others; but when former Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin was ill, it was not a problem for these very hypocrites that he travelled to the US on a chartered flight, and that all his medical bills were covered by the State.
Had Mr. Jagdeo travelled on a commercial flight and, fearing the worst, you can imagine the ridicule he would have been subjected to by these very individuals. So, as usual, it’s a no-win situation for the former Head of State, as is the case with our current President when it comes to certain sections of the media; but they do not see their actions as being uncivil.
Old Kai could not decide whether to laugh or cry, so, I did both when I realised that these people were bold enough to give us a breakdown in the types of civility. “There are actually three facets to civility: civility as respect for others; civility as in public behaviour; and civility as self-regulation.”
They are guilty of undermining all thee spheres in society. Someone needs to urgently inform them that as a media entity responsible for shaping citizens views on issues, they have an even greater responsibility to exercise ‘civility’ in what they publish, and how they choose to publish it. They must exercise ‘self-regulation’; ‘respect for others’; and be an example in encouraging ‘civility as public behaviour’.