In the end the truth about what is happening is the only thing that is of value to anybody. And when a newspaper begins to suppress news, whether at the behest of its advertisers or on pleas from special segments of business, it will soon cease to be of any service either to its advertisers or to business because it will soon cease to have readers – The Time a Newspaper Stared Down the Country’s Largest Advertiser
The above article reminded BU just how much we take the role of the media in Barbados for granted. Are we satisfied local media presents the unvarnished truth? Is the news and ideologies of the local media coloured by its obligation to keep advertisers happy? Do we agree the media sector needs to be be managed as a commercial enterprise to be able to honour its financial obligations? Is it possible given the emerging social media sphere for traditional media to manage the business of reporting news without compromise?
One reason BU has not been embraced by the traditional media has a lot to do with an unwillingness to relinquish our independence. The views and ideology of BU are our own and so far have been impervious to those whose job it is to manipulate the national agenda. And so it will continue because we have no advertisers to appease. The large advertisers in Barbados are known, LIME, Digicel, car dealers, finance companies to name the obvious few. Knowing the incestuous and corrupt nature of the system can we say with certainty the traditional media is not ‘influenced’?
Are we satisfied the local media is sufficiently probing of issues such as why Karib Cable was given a license to operate days before the DLP won a general election which was quickly acquired by FLOW? What about the entry of Cost U Less to Barbados? Why was Bjorn Bjerkhamn appointed to the Central Bank Board of Directors? Why did former minister of Commerce Ronald Toppin resign from oversight of the Fair Training Commission? What was the rationale of the late prime minister David Thompson’s decision to appoint Leroy Parris as Chairman of Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation? What is the arrangement between government, minister Michael Lashley, Mark Maloney and the Clarkes to manage the Adopt-a-kilometre program?
Many other questions can be asked to expose the supine and moribund state of the local media. There is the CBC which has been manipulated by successive governments. Not to forget Anthony Bryan of the BarbadosAdvocate who has openly adopted the PIG principle. And then there is Starcom Network which is challenged – by their admission – to walk the narrow road between the need to manage the relationship with advertisers and the pursuit and broadcast of truth.
The media, government, citizens and other members of civil society have to play an honest part to fashion the best society possible. If key stakeholders allow themselves to be manipulated by those who are motivated by greed and corruption then what is the purpose of our lives? How do we make Barbados a better place for our children? Who is responsible to act as the disruptive force? Whither the Barbados Association of Journalists?
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