A LETTER published in this newspaper on May 23, 2022, by Roodi Balgobin, MBA, titled “Kaieteur News has a reputation of presenting preposterous claims as facts” caught my attention.
I was moved by the following content: “Kaieteur News and others parading as environmentalists have been hammering on that because of Guyana’s fledgling oil-and-gas industry, the commercial fishing industry is suffering. It would be remiss of me not to mention from the onset that Kaieteur News is known for its radical, unsubstantiated, and outright sensational reporting, just to sell copies.”
Those strong words, released on the heels of World Press Freedom Day, presented an opportunity to comment without being ensnared into a one-sided position. While I believe that the above quote from the letter writer might be too harsh, I certainly think it is speaking to a larger concern.
Most Guyanese depend on the dailies in the simplest of forms to understand what is going on with the oil-and-gas industry, and so, accuracy, accountability, and responsibility are of paramount importance. This might be the reason why the letter writer was not shy about his feelings.
I noticed that for some time, the team at Kaieteur News (KN) believes that it has chosen an honourable path, calling out the sitting government on how it is managing Guyana’s treasured wealth, demonstrating an existential fight against a home-grown oil crisis. Of course, the KN team has a right to do so in the name of freedom of expression.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said that without journalists having the freedom to do their jobs, society faces the prospect of: “A world of confusion and disinformation.” Put differently, interference hampers quality reporting. I have no qualms with this declaration.
Notwithstanding some shilly-shally and mealy-mouthed reporting from the KN team on the most serious matter in Guyana, I must give it some credit among the motley crowd. An unknown number of Guyanese are listening, and certainly, the government has zoomed in since it has responded to some allegations from the KN team.
That said, the letter also caught my attention precisely at a time when I was doing revisions on an article regarding Guyana’s oil-and-gas industry to be published in a reputable journal in July 2022.
Naturally, I was scrabbling and scratching my head for information, which, I must admit, is rather limited. There is, as of writing, no grounded literature on Guyana’s fledgling oil-and-gas industry. What exists are short pieces and reports without in-depth analyses, which inadvertently then brought me to KN since it has appeared to be a consistent reporter on Guyana’s oil-and-gas industry.
I realise, however, that consistency does not necessarily mean accuracy and accountability. I had to painfully comb through many short pieces of writings from the KN and match them with other writing pieces from other dailies. It was a nightmare. I realise also that this is what researchers and writers do.
Nevertheless, I found some reckless reporting in KN, bringing into question in the name of all that is good, why the newspaper team would engage in encomiums that are misguided and undeserved. I am not injecting personal views. I simply have my analyst cap on.
There is, however, something cathartic about the team at KN speaking on Guyana’s natural resources that is refreshing. I appreciate the candor, which can be more appreciated if the reporting is based on facts and balance otherwise readers and listeners will not believe the malarkey, and that YouTube programme will turn into a snooze fest.
I am sure the team is aware of the following idiom: “He who is of much bombast and boorishness will certainly experience a falling out with his erstwhile supporters.”
I return to the letter to remind KN that “these ‘environmentalists’ are preying on the hard-working people of this country by presenting nonsense as facts.” (lomarsh.roopnarine@jsums.edu)