Dear Editor,
I HAVE read with some interest the issues relating to Stabroek News and the Government. I have initially read Stabroek News version of events but decided to withhold my comments and views until I’ve read the Government version. I think this was the reasonable and objective thing to do before forming a conclusion since as the cliche goes a story has three sides- your side, my side and the correct side.

Before I state my observations, please allow me highlight my experiences with Stabroek News. When the former President Bharrat Jagdeo decreed that Stabroek News should receive no state advertisement I was incensed. I saw it as political stifling of the media. I refused to sit idly by and see Stabroek News go down. As a result when Stabroek News introduced annual subscriptions of US$100, I was one of the first to subscribe. This I did for over a decade.

Mr. Editor anyone who knows me would tell you that I am a creature of habit. As it relates to reading the news, I read the Kaieteur News first, followed by the Stabroek and Guyana Chronicle. It is only in 2016 that I have added Guyana Chronicle to my list of news source. My point is that by the time I would I have read Kaieteur News, there is no need to read Stabroek News because Guyana as a small country would not have a massive numbers of news worthy materials. As a result what is in Kaieteur News would be in Stabroek News. Despite that fact, I continue to pay my annual subscription of US$100to Stabroek News even though I did not read it.

Now my experiences with Stabroek News. A few years back a doctor in Guyana had a letter published in Stabroek News which was medically incorrect. This doctor wrote of sleep studies to investigate coronary artery disease among other erroneous information. Also this very doctor questioned my patriotism to Guyana since he could not counter my medical arguments published in another news outlet that Stabroek News refused to publish. I respectfully corrected him but Stabroek News under Anand Persaud yet again refused to publish my response. To me it is only fair that Stabroek News provide me a right of reply. I emailed Anand Persaud about my concerns and the following day a significantly edited version of my letter was published. It was so edited that the substance of the message was distorted.

Mr. Editor we all know that all governments do make mistakes and it is imperative that supporters of the Government be objective and not follow blindly. That is the position I held but unfortunately Stabroek News twisted it to give the impression that I was not giving this Government credit where credit was due. Every time I am critical of the Government they would publish my letters but if I am complementary of the Government it is never published. Mr. Editor I must clearly state that this was before the now infamous No Confidence Motion.

Anyway, I continued my subscription to Stabroek News. On many occasions I would see pro-PPP letters being published in Stabroek News. Many of these letters contain propaganda. Most of them I would ignore but some I felt compel to respond to, especially if they were in my field of medicine. Stabroek News would never publish my version. For them only one side should be heard. I saw a Dr. Rohan Khan wrote a letter in Stabroek News today titled, “No Government should try to disadvantage any media.” In his letter he wrote, “If I may respectfully remind those who need reminding, the media advances public interest by informing the public of the events and developments that have taken place, and thereby educating the people.”

Let me ask this gentleman this question. A provider of information to the public should take a neutral position and just provide the facts to the reader for them to form their own opinion. Do you think that is the position Stabroek News took? If you do think so, please support it with credible evidence? Another person by the name of Sean Ori also wrote in Stabroek News, titled, “Afraid of constructive criticism.” The ruminating writer wrote, “For the illegal APNU+AFC Government to “downsize” advertising in SN speaks volumes of the mentality of the people in the APNU+AFC illegal Government.” OK mate, please inform me who is the legal Government so that I can defend them from your trashy writing?
It is for these reasons that I wrote Stabroek News a long epistle and cancelled my subscription in January 2019, ending over a decade of over US$1000 subscription. A subscription that I did not have to pay since Stabroek News was not providing me anything additional from the other news outlet in Guyana. A subscription that was much higher than internationally highly acclaimed media outlets e.g The New York Times. A subscription which was introduced to keep the newspaper afloat when state advertisement was removed by PPP but after the state advertisement was restored the exorbitantly high subscription was maintained to fleece Guyanese. Greed!!

After the NCM, Stabroek News took a position which is their right. In my opinion, having taken a position it was important that they were objective and provide Guyanese both sides of the political coin. That is what respectable newspaper would do. That was not the case. Stabroek News became the biased mouthpiece of the PPP and their cronies. Not only that, Stabroek News on multiple occasions disrespected our President. Has Anand Persaud apologised to Mr. Granger when he wrote that editorial “Temporising?” After that editorial, many other editorials followed which were equally disrespectful. Dr. Khan is this the way Stabroek News was educating the public. Miseducation. When the Appeal Court in the NCM ruled in the Government favour, Stabroek News was asleep for hours before they published the ruling. When the Government loses and had bad publicity, it would be in bright red in front page of Stabroek News as breaking news. When the President of the Caribbean Bank reported that Guyana is the fastest growing economy in the Caribbean, Stabroek News placed it on page 9. No need for prominence since it is good news about the Government. Dr. Khan is this the way to educate the public. Come on. Step out. You or whoever, let’s debates on facts.

I’ve read both the Stabroek News and the Government version of events. What is clear is that the Government was providing the Stabroek the biggest slice of the state advertisement. Many media outlet received no state advertisement. Why folks like Dr. Khan et al not coming out in support of those media outlets? For their credit, those media outlet unlike Stabroek News, see state advertisement as a privilege and not an entitlement. What is also fact is that Stabroek News unilaterally cancelled its contract with the Government because of, in the context of Government spending, a small amount of monies owed. That was drastic. No negotiations. No warning letter. Just Boom. Stabroek News stated that it did this because there was a high likelihood that the Government would change. That is garbage. Even if the Government had changed, the new government still has to pay the debt. The debt is not with APNU-PPP. It is with the State, regardless of which party Governs. Anand, the State was not going anywhere. Secondly, when Stabroek News unilaterally terminated the contract with the Government, they expected the Government to sit there waiting on them to return. Get real Anand, the world does not revolve around you. The Government had a right to seek alternatives media to advertise. You made a political decision to gamble and you’ve lost. Dry your eyes and snotty nose and stop the public sympathy crying.

When Stabroek News stated that it was a high likelihood that the Government would have changed, I see that as a Freudian slip. That is the wish of Anand Persaud. Only he knows the reason why. What is clear is that the Government was and is fair to his newspaper despite his newspaper’s nasty and biased reporting towards them. He was the architect of their downfall by unilaterally terminating the contract. The fact is that Stabroek News has received the biggest slice of state advertisement worth millions of dollars.
I agree a Government has responsibility to the media but the media has a greater responsibility to its readers. Be fair. Be balanced. Be objective. Anand Persaud is all in tears that the Government is not fair to them. The question is, are they fair to their readers. He who approaches the court for justice must approach it with clean hands. Anand Persaud, are your hands clean?

Let’s see if you practise what you are crying over, like a baby having gripes and finally start publishing my letters.

Regards
Dr. Mark Devonish