IN my column for May 3, 2024, in relation to the nasty journalism of Kaieteur News where twice they published photographs of the marches for Palestine and cropped me out of the photographs where I was marching in close proximity with other activists, I wrote the following words: “This country is a moral jungle where principles, human decency and basic character do not exist. This country is a political jungle where predators appear as savers then morph into Dracula and suck you dry. I have learnt this lesson when I was very, very young.”

On the morning of that day, the Security Adviser to the President, Mr. Jerry Gouveia, called me to say that the above quote was too general. He added that the statement is too blanket. He asserted that Guyana has good people. I agreed. Because of that conversation, I will avoid generalisation and refer to the sordid side of Guyana rather than saying Guyana is a sordid place.
Ms. Nazima Raghubir wrote a missive with infantile descriptions attacking me. Her letter was published in the Kaieteur News (KN) and Stabroek News (SN) of Saturday, May 18, 2024. Please see my reply yesterday (Monday). In the KN, the item had the caption: “Freddie Kissoon needs to be honest with himself and the public.”

Here is how the SN titled the identical letter: “Presenting the truth is one of journalism’s guiding principles.”
Here are the opening words in the second paragraph of Ms. Raghubir’s letter as it appeared in KN: “I’d like to set the record straight in response to Freddie Kissoon.” The exact wording appears in SN except Freddie Kissoon was taken out and “columnist” inserted.

In the KN version, Ms. Raghubir mentioned my name 27 times. There is absolutely no mention of my name in the identical missive in SN. Something has to be wrong with the mind of a person that fails to see how repugnant the journalism of SN is or sees it and accepts it as normal. SN proclaims that the truth must be the guiding principle of journalism which is boldly emblazoned on the headline of Ms. Raghubir’s correspondence. So where or what is the truth in this case?

The truth, the graphic truth, the compelling truth is that a journalist named Nazima Raghubir has replied to a column written by Frederick Kissoon and made a mountain of condemnations of Frederick Kissoon, and the newspaper that says the truth must be part of journalism has hidden the truth from its readers so its readers do not know who Ms. Raghubir is quarreling with.
The above is a tsunamic example of the unsavory aspects of the Guyanese society. A newspaper that failed to inform its readers about a certain truth writes about the role of the truth in journalism. One of the truths of the Guyanese society is that it has sections and dimensions that are deeply reprehensible.

But these disgusting flaws embed themselves in the society because foolish and equally reprehensible people praise those whose flaws threaten the democratic fabric of Guyanese society. I haven’t gone to the online edition of SN but if and when I do, I will see the comments on Ms. Raghubir’s letter in which no one will condemn SN for its assault on the basic tenets of journalism.
But those very people that post those comments, they wake up each morning and look under their beds for Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo. Everything about the government of these two gentlemen is bad and unacceptable. No other content of Guyana is bad except the government.

So in Guyana, the descent into politicised journalism, into hateful journalism, into inciting journalism, into racially oriented journalism, into anti-Palestinian journalism, into nakedly anti-government journalism, into brutally propagandistic journalism by the privately owned media is not a depravity to be condemned.

One prominent citizen with extensive ties to KN and SN declared in a letter that the most dangerous turn in Guyana to date has been engineered by Vice-President Jagdeo when he openly criticised Justice Kissoon’s judgement in favour of the teachers’ union. The gentleman says Mr. Jagdeo’ words could undermine the work of the judiciary.

But I thought that the media is equally important in society as the judiciary is, that is why it is referred to as the fourth pillar of power in society. I end with a call from Guyanese about what the truth is. Is it the truth that Mr. Jagdeo’s words can harm the judiciary? Or is it that such a thing is nonsense and far from the truth, but the real truth is the danger that a depraved media landscape poses to the Guyanese society?

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.