During last week’s press conference, Prime Minister David Thompson displayed annoyance at the lack of curiosity currently being demonstrated by the media at the obvious price gouging taking place in Barbados.
What has brought this matter to a head is the reluctance of the private sector to reverse the upward trend of the cost of food despite three price cuts in under two weeks by government of petrol. The wholesalers and retailers have resoundingly told the Prime Minister they will not cut prices until their suppliers do so. At this point we have a confused public who cannot understand why food prices continue to rise while the price of a barrel of oil on the world market hovers below US70.00. The confusion among the Barbados consumer can be partially blamed on the Barbados media. They are many who believe that the local media has not taken the opportunity to investigate the price mechanisms which are currently being used by the several actors to educate and EXPOSE the market.
The morning after the press conference a few callers directed a similar view to Stedson Babb, the moderator of the afternoon talk show: can anyone imagine what he muttered to a caller? He wondered aloud if the public expect journalists to be private investigators! he appeared to be in a funk on that morning anyway, good thing he does not work in customer service.
On August 31, 2008 the Nation political correspondent Albert Bradford departed from the norm and published an interesting article, A model democracy which highlighted a study undertaken by the St. Augustin Campus, University of the West Indies. The study observed that there is a high level of self censorship in the local media. We have concluded from the study that the management of the local media is afraid that the libel and defamation laws are too punitive:
It is the view of the journalist interviewed [Harold Hoyte, former publisher of THE NATION] that not only are the libel laws punitive but the records of the courts were also punitive since both the sanctions are high and the terms of what is defamatory restrictive.
The publisher of THE NATION newspaper estimated that it is normal for the newspaper to pay about $100 000 in damages annually,” they said. “It is therefore quite easy for public officials to censor the Press merely by threatening to sue.
From BU research, the traditional newspaper for example is rapidly becoming irrelevant and many of them around the world are struggling to survive for financial reasons. Those that are surviving have had to prostitute themselves to advertisers in order to attract the almighty dollar. To survive, the content of many newspapers and other areas of the media now reflect what is popular. With this fact the demise of a major plank in traditional journalism which has been long regarded as the fiercest watchdog of our democracies is rapidly becoming a feeble force. This is a sad state of affairs because despite the popularity of the blogosphere, the ongoing media convergence being witnessed across the world represents a threat to our democracies. In Barbados the home grown Nation newspaper and Voice of Barbados radio station were gobbled up by a cash rich Trinidad concern.
- Think about Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein — no police investigation alone would have provided the American public with the story of what actually occurred in the Watergate office complex that fateful night in 1972.
- Think about Nellie Bly, the famous muckraking journalist who feigned insanity to report on the abuses occurring inside mental institutions. Because of her reporting, much-needed legislation on patient care was passed.
- Think about this newspaper, which two years ago broke the story of the suicides of scores of American troops serving in Iraq and the critical need for mental health screening.
The struggle of good journalism to remain afloat is not just journalism’s struggle. It is America’s struggle, because without the free flow of information, without impartial news sources, without regular reports on government and politics, the arts and the outside world, we lose our ability to be informed citizens. In an age where talking heads have replaced journalists, where opinion passes as journalism and where newspapers are driven by profit to reduce and compromise their reporting, Americans are more at risk than ever.
Responsible journalism, like responsible education, has been the support system for democracy all along. We must advocate for good journalism, or risk losing our ability to be good citizens in our democracy.
Source: The Courant
The BU household is not sure how we can edit the current fastfood diet of journalism being served up by the local media, what we know is if it continues the threat to our democracy remains a clear and present danger.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.