July 2019 saw at least two murders taking place in Barbados (32 for the year so far). Both of them took place in in St. Michael. The victims were male and died as a result of gun and knife related violence. The data was collected and compiled based on available media reports at the time. See below charts for additional details and analysis.
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Most likely the murder rate has already reached a whopping total if 40
Still hidden somewhere in legal limbo are the deaths of the father and mother
The death of the lady found on the beach
So far for whatever reason givt authorities have hidden ..refused ir down right incompetent in finding details or blatantly refused to give further details to the public
Meanwhile the crime rate abd death rate increases with no end in sight
@ Mariposa also known by many other names.
It is agreed that your strategy IS to politicize everything AND BLAME THE BLP for hook, line and sinker.
On the one side, your relentless strategy to blame the BLP, which catspraddled your party’s ass 30 love is admirable, THOUGH DISGUIDED, but like a broken clock which is right twice a day, we also need to examine the deliverables OF THE MUGABE REGIME AFTER 15 MONTHS
You are right that the BERT plan has only delivered HARDSHIP and PAIN TO BAJANS and, yes, economic instability, breeds poverty and poverty Crime
But, your 10 year government has to take 95 percent of the blame for this.
As time passes and we approach 15 years cumulative, Mugabe will be responsible for 30% of the suffering at least THOUGH AT THE RATE SHE IS SPENDING and wigh a 30 person ministry, it going be more like 50% responsible
A big part of our problem is not about the political system. It is also about a people; an educated people, that have allowed themselves to be led by disengaging from the governance system. A lack of civic awareness coupled with the responsibility it brings.
When December 31st comes AND 50 PEOPLE ARE NOT DEAD, what do many of you think will happen?
Piece the Legend ‘s fan club will AS PER CUSTOMARY, jump on Barbados Underground and say how de old man prophecy was wrong A D WILL SEEK, in their accustomed way, to discredit the old man.
Not one fellow will say that the instruction that de ole man offered the crime bosses to “tell de fellers, if dem do any individual killings that are not properly approved, WILL RESULT IN FAMILY RETRIBUTIONS and the execution of the low level bossman IF HE DOES NOT CONTROL HIS PEOPLE.
But besides that, what are these murders showing?
The murders show a Piss Poor Police Force, a useless Commissuoner of Police and an incompetent Attorney General Teets Marshall!
Because it highlights that Drug Kullungs are being effected with impunity under their watch AND AFTER 25 DRUG RELATED KILLINGS OVER 8 MONTHS, dem has not been able to arrest ONE RASSHOLE DRUG DEALER FAR LESS A DRUG LORD!
Not one!!
And who is responsible for DAT SHY$E
MUGABE AMIN MOTTLEY!! not one body else cause if de Prime Minister cant issue dat instruction cause ***is a drug lord too den she ent deserve to be prime minister!!!
@ the Honourable Blogmaster
You are “recovering ” I see!
You said and I quote
“…A big part of our problem is not about the political system. It is also about a people; an educated people, that have allowed themselves to be led by disengaging from the governance system.
A lack of civic awareness coupled with the responsibility it brings…”
How old are you now?
How many kids?
How many teenagers?
How close are you to the “it is appointed dver man 3 score years an ten to live?”
You understand that concept and its ramifications on your pending demittance of this scene?
And the responsibility that creates on you and me and each of us, THAT WE HAVE TO ENGAGE?
I DOES FROM TIME TO TIME SAY, “I dun wid dust shy$e posting”!
Den I does see the murders and on the other side see the pair of Rented Jackasses singing the praises of Mugabe OR MARIPOSA singing bout Fumbles and Stinkliar!!
And dat does stop my black ass from dunning!
You think that, at we age, we should be heah pun de internet doing ghis shy$e for and ungrateful set of varmints!!
How many more murders would it take for govt to understand that BERT is the catalysts to high poverty rate which leads to expanding crime and violence
To hear the cries of the daughter in the video who wanted for her Dad to see her graduate is heart wrenching
“How many more murders would it take for govt to understand that BERT is the catalysts to high poverty rate which leads to expanding crime and violence……”
So, BERT is responsible for ALL the murders committed in Barbados so far for the year?
Yuh mean to tell me dat BERT responsible for the altercation between two ZR conductors, which resulted in one being stabbed and subsequently succumbing to his injuries?
Or someone murdered as a result of a lover’s tiff, revenge, gang rivalry or hits on drug pushers?
And while we’re at it, let’s also blame BERT for road rage, domestic violence, PSVs leaving the disabled, shop-lifting, the mother and son who died in the house fire or the father and his two children that perished in the apartment fire; or the British woman that died after being choked and set ablaze.
And if we were to follow your logic, then, Sinckler’s “home grown austerity measures” are responsible for Donville Inniss taking bribes from ICBL and being held in the USA on money laundering charges.
It’s amazing people could admonish Enuff and Lorenzo for “Kool-Aid drinking” and “yard-fowlism,”…….. yet, they give you a free pass for posting political crap.
You should stick with your argument that BERT does not include a plan for economic growth and high taxation may prevent any possibility of such growth in the long run…… or the much touted high foreign reserves are as a result of borrowing and not paying creditors for over one year…… exposing the fallacy of White Oaks…… or the bloated Cabinet which see some ministers with “half day” ministries.
This is where you “make more sense.”
Mr. Oh so bright one Artax
Do u know the difference between catalyst and responsible
Artax since u gave been mouth piece for govt on the escalating murder rate
Can y give an update as to when govt will release further details on the mother and son whose death were attributed to fire
The two babies whose death were also attributed to fire including the dad
And the lady whose body was found on the beach
After all this govt did promised transparency
Still no report in the local press. We have normalised murder.
Incorrect.
Page 4 NationNews.
The latest report is that the police is waiting on the results of the post mortem before making a statement.
Well some of us cannot access it online. n any case, a post mortem result has nothing to do with the reporting of a suspected murder, or as we call it in Barbados, an unusual death.
My friend…
A catalyst is simply something that incites, induces or influences an event.
So, essentially, you’re suggesting BERT incites or influences crime and violence in Barbados.
If we’re looking at murders, then BERT amounted to an incitement to commit murder.
WHAT is the influence that contributed to a murder……… what persuaded or led someone to commit murder……or, in other words, what factor is responsible for one individual killing another?
Well, according to you, it’s BERT.
My friend,
When and where did I mention I am the “mouth piece for govt on the escalating murder rate?”
All I did was to indicate you were politicizing a sensitive issue and exposed the silly, political rhetoric you’re spewing in doing such.
What I can “say” is, I NEVER KNEW it was the JOB of the government, PM or any other government minister to “give updates or release further details on” deaths, whether they are suspected to be natural or un-natural.
I always thought that was a job for the RBPF’s Public Relations Office, OIC of the CID, or the CoP during press conferences.
What we are looking at here are the Bert policies that have negative influence or connotations to a social enviroment which leads has lead tovhigh unemployment and escalating poverty
These two combined are deadly forces which interacts as catalyst with bert resulting in devastating results for the socio-economic enviroment
Hence since these bert policies were introduced crime have increased unemployment has increased inflation has increased
Govt inability to pay retrenched and invalidity payments
All combined are a reflection of BERt
Not good
The latest report is that the police is waiting on the results of the post mortem before making a statement.
±++++++++++++
Come on David.
Since when do you need a post mortem to speak on a violent act that resulted in the death of an individual.
I have a question for you.
As a totally tourism dependent micro economy why do you not think that there is a tendency to underreport crime?
Your are entitled you your opinion. Let us hear what the authorities have to present later. The police indicated it is categorized an unnatural death.
David BU
Some are quick to criticize Barbadian journalism ………. and, in some cases, I AGREE with those criticisms.
However, in the interest of FAIRNESS and CLARITY, as it relates to the incident where a lady was attacked in her home and set the house ablaze after dousing her with a flammable substance, I will direct BU to the following links, which were taken from the Monday, July 29, 2019 edition of the Daily Nation Newspaper and Tuesday, July 30, 2019 edition of Barbados Today on-line newspaper, respectively:
https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/240969/woman-attacked-burnt
https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/07/30/fiery-attack/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As it relates to this story, it is interesting that one contributor wrote: “Here is a classic example of what I mean: someone sadly dies IN BARBADOS, yet one of our leading publications is re-writing a story from a UK publication about that incident. In other words, UK publications (3000 miles away) are informing the public about something that takes place in Barbados. Where s professional pride?”
The above is NOT TRUE and if that individual had ACTUALLY READ the article in the “UK publication,” they would have seen the following:
“Barbados MEDIA OUTLET “STABROEK NEWS” reported that police were on the hunt for a man who ‘barged into a house, choked a woman, doused her with a flammable substance and then set the house on fire.’….”
Barbados DOES NOT have a MEDIA OUTLET named “Stabroek News.”
What actually happened here was, the Guyanese newspaper, “Stabroek News,” RE-WROTE the story “about that incident” from the Monday, July 29, 2019 edition of the Daily Nation, as is evidenced by the following link:
The following is the first paragraph of the Stabroek article:
“(Barbados Nation) Police are on the hunt for a man who barged into a house, choked a woman, doused her with a flammable substance and then set the house on fire yesterday.”
The “UK publication” subsequently RE-WROTE the story “about that incident,” from the “Stabroek News” ………… and INCORRECTLY described that newspaper, as a “Barbados media outlet.”
So, this time in the interest of FAIRNESS, I ask “where is the professional pride?”
Also, if “in the UK, the editor, news editor and chef reporter would all be disciplined for this,” then, should we expect disciplinary proceedings against the “editor, news editor and chief reporter” of that “UK publication.”
@Atax
There is a picture of a man posted in the Nation where police is asking the public’s assistance. Maybe it is connected.
Report One
Residents at Bartlett’s Tenantry, Christ Church are outraged that a 44-year-old woman is now fighting for her life at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), after a man doused her with a flammable substance and lit the house she was in on Sunday afternoon.
Members of the close-knit community said they were horrified that the intruder went into the house, entered the bedroom, and choked the victim, before she was able to run into the backyard screaming for help.
She was said to have received burns to about 80 per cent of her body.
A 44-year-old woman was choked and doused with a flammable substance at her brother’s Bartlett’s Tenantry home on Sunday afternoon.
The woman was rescued by a group of young men who removed galvanised sheets that enclosed the yard and lifted her to a lawn chair under a nearby breadfruit tree, where she was covered with a sheet.
“He came over the fence and I was sleeping and he strangle me and throw the gas on me and light it. I was screaming . . . Please help me! He tried to kill me, he try to kill me,” the crying woman said in a video taken minutes after the incident circulating on social media.
Residents said that the victim’s brother who is currently in a nursing home owns the wooden structure, which was extensively damaged by the blaze.
Residents brought the victim to this area after rescuing her from the yard.
When a Barbados TODAY team visited the area today, disturbed residents were still talking about the ordeal which they said rocked the community.
One woman who requested anonymity, said when she heard the screams while cooking, she thought a child was being beaten. But after hearing the loud cry for at least four minutes, she then knew something was wrong.
“I saw flames coming from the back room. My daughter ran out behind me and I ran back and went and called the fire station and I reported that there was a fire at Bartlett’s Tenantry and I called the police station at Worthing and then I called the ambulance.
“Then we see like somebody trying to break a window. So then I tell them try pulling off the galvanise because it would be devastating if they die in the house. But I didn’t know that the old man was recently placed in a home. She only came in from overseas last week to look after him,” she said.
“Eventually they got into the yard, and all of her skin was burned like 80 per cent, except her face. They lifted her right here and we put her on that stretcher there under a tree in the cool. The ambulance came and they asked for another sheet and I give them and they covered her, and then they get buckets of water and throw on her.
“She was screaming all the time. She was saying someone came into the house and then tried to strangle her and she said that while they were trying to strangle her they threw the fluid on her, and it engulfed her and the house in flames,” she added.
The woman, who cried shame on the person responsible for carrying out the horrendous act, said she was now praying and hoping that the victim survives.
“I didn’t like the way she look. The police have a lot of work on their hands because they now have to find out who did it. I hope whoever did it is caught,” she said.
Another resident said she was so troubled by the incident that she has not slept since it happened.
Standing in her patio, the resident said she wished someone could tell her why someone would want to harm “that girl who don’t trouble nobody or get in people way”.
“I feel real sad. She is a nice person in the area. Her brother lives there. The brother get sick, then the mother come in and look after him, and then the mother passed away six months ago. So the girl would come in from overseas to take care of her brother. She would go and come. She did not deserve this.”
Police Public Relations Officer Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss confirmed that police are investigating the matter for which they received a call around 1:55 p.m on Sunday. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
Report Two
No, I have not, but I understand the sentiment. When on the few occasions I criticise Barbadian journalism, the brain dead comes out of the woodwork to criticise me.
Here is a classic example of what I mean: someone sadly dies IN BARBADOS, yet one of our leading publications is re-writing a story from a UK publication about that incident.
In other words, UK publications (3000 miles away) are informing he public about something that takes place in Barbados. Where s professional pride?
In the UK, the editor, news editor and chef reporter would all be disciplined for this. A principle of Anglo-Saxon journalism is that you must cover your own patch. They get away with it because the readers do not demand more.
Read the following from Barbados Today:
Detectives remained tight-lipped tonight on their investigations after a woman who was strangled, doused with a flammable liquid and set alight, is said to have died in hospital.
British media reported that her family has launched a GoFundMe account for financial help to return her body to the United Kingdom.
Family members said that Natalie Crichlow died on August 6, after suffering 75 per cent burns to her body when an intruder broke into her home at Bartlett’s Tenantry, Christ Church, on July 28, her family said. The assailant also set the house on fire.
Crichlow, 40, a mother of three who was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of London, had been here caring for her disabled brother following the deaths of her mother and uncle.
Shocked family members said Crichlow twice survived cancer twice and two strokes in the past decade, media reports quoted them as saying.
The victim’s niece, Ashley Best, was quoted by Sky News as saying: “The intruder broke into the house, then strangled her and then set her alight.
“I do not understand why it happened and we are all in a state of shock. She went into the hospital and died of her injuries.
“For someone who had battled through so much to just be taken in this way and lose their life is just beyond understanding.”
On the GoFundMe page, Best said that her aunt left behind a daughter and two sons who desperately want “to bring her home to say goodbye and lay her to rest peacefully”.
Best described Crichlow as an outgoing, bubbly and kind person who was greatly loved and well thought of throughout many communities, to all of which the loss has come as a massive shock.
Crichlow’s niece wrote: “Please help us donate towards costs which will cover repatriation to the UK as her body is still in Barbados with only a few family members and friends around her.
“Any donation large or small will help in bringing peace to the family and our beloved Natalie who we all miss dearly.”
Deputy Police Commissioner Erwin Boyce stated that investigations are at a sensitive stage and an update will be provided soon. (Quote)
I understand the point being made about the dousing and the victim subsequently dying. Two different events.
However, there isn’t anything in BT’s article that REMOTELY SUGGESTS that media outlet RE-WROTE a story from a UK publication ABOUT the INCIDENT, other than quoting from Sky News re: “The victim’s niece, Ashley Best, was quoted by Sky News as saying: “The intruder broke into the house, then strangled her and then set her alight,” ……….
………which was ALREADY reported in the July 30, 2019 edition of Barbados Today.
It is also interesting to note the same Sky News reported that “Local MEDIA OUTLET Stabroek News said police are looking for a man who “barged into a house, choked a woman, doused her with a flammable substance and then set the house on fire.”
BT seemed to be more focused on the VIEWS expressed by the victim’s relatives, as reported by the British media, relative to them being in a state of shock as a result of the attack on the victim and her subsequent death, how she was revered by “many communities”…… and how they plan to go about “repatriation” of the her body to the UK.
For example, Ashley Best was quoted as having said: “I do not understand why it happened and we are all in a state of shock. She went into the hospital and died of her injuries.”
“British media reported that her family has launched a GoFundMe account for financial help to return her body to the United Kingdom.”
“On the GoFundMe page, Best said that her aunt left behind a daughter and two sons who desperately want “to BRING her HOME to say goodbye and lay her to rest peacefully.”
Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume the victim’s relatives reside in the UK and were interviewed by the UK media. (Note: “BRING her HOME” as opposed to “SEND” her home”).
If the relatives in the UK expressing their views on the incident, a synopsis of the victim and how she was well loved in the UK and how they plan to repatriate her body to the UK,CAN BE REASONABLY INTERPRETED as “UK publications (3000 miles away) are informing he public about something that takes place in Barbados,” then I stand corrected.
However, if one wants to argue that BT should have contacted the victim’s relatives in the UK, then that’s a topic for another discussion.
The Sky News link:
@ Mariposa
I have to agree with you that BERT is causing a number of murders in Barbados with a shrinking economy and things deteriorating in BIM
I cannot recall the increasing number of ZR drivers who are being attacked for quick money because of increased desperation.
This has lead to murder #34 on Tuesday night.
.Several operators said that the death of 54-year-old Ralston Philip Agard of Sandy Hill, St Philip, was an indication that the safety of persons involved in the sector was under threat.
The 34th homicide for the year was an alleged attempted robbery, which took place close to Agard’s home where his 90-year-old mother, whom he took care of, awaited his arrival.
Barbados TODAY visited his home, but family members declined to speak this morning.
However, at the Constitution Road, St Michael, River Terminal, this evening, some of the victim’s colleagues and friends said they were struggling to get through the day as they grieve the death of “a real cool guy”.
They made a call for all relevant authorities to put measures in place to protect them and their passengers from security risks before someone else is killed.
“A million drivers out here got bullets in them and nothing ain’t coming out of that. A driver get shoot recently and got bullets in he neck and nothing ain’t coming out of that. But as drivers come out here with a sword to protect themselves wunna want to lock we up in prison,” an angry driver voiced loudly.
“We ain’t to arm ourselves? We are getting robbed on a daily basis. We getting shoot on a daily basis and nobody ain’t helping we. When you dead nobody ain’t getting hold for these crimes.
https://barbadostoday.bb/2019/08/15/death-shock-4/
IT WILL GET WORSE.
There is another informed view that the availability of drugs with enhanced surveillance by the authorities is creating lawlessness in a certain sector. We all have opinions.
There may be a contraction from drugs, however only an individual with a suspicious Agenda would not agree the BERT has caused further contraction in the economy leading to FURTHER INCREASE desperation.
Anyone in Barbados who want drugs can go to any Block in BIM and purchase drugs almost 24/7.
Also anyone living in the ghettos can attest to that.
THIS IS THE REALITY ON THE GROUND.
Baje u say 34.but if the two babies and the father and the mother and son also the lady found on the beach
The now confirmed fiery death of the woman
The count comes to a whopping 40
Not one to spread gossip
However i contend that govt authorities are being less than truthful in releasing information on these deaths which have all but past 2 to 3 months
It is hard to believethat an investigation which includes the residence… that fire authorities would be clueless after three months of not knowning what caused the fire to the residence
I am therefore more proned to belive that govt investigative authorities are handed notes of intimidation to keep mouth closed on these suspicious deaths
Still a mystery but family has not given up.
https://www.montclairlocal.news/2019/08/03/missing-couple-montclair-nj-2/
I do not want to be critical of young untrained reporters, the faults are with the executives. But it is bad journalism. Stop trying to justify a badly written report. If you do not know anything about news reporting then put your hands up and cut out the BU know all rubbish. Stop settling for mediocrity.
Neither story should have been published as it is. If a sixth former had written that story for me I would have sat them down and gone through it line by line. Read them again. But if this passes as ‘good’ journalism in Barbados, who am I to criticise it.
All is speculative. You may have the last word.
The AG and COP addressing the matter raised in the UK media.
https://www.facebook.com/BarbadosLabourParty/videos/371143050231535/
“Young untrained reporters,” ” bad journalism,” “neither stories should have been published as is,” or what “passes as good journalism in Barbados” were NEVER the ORIGINAL “bone of contention.” Those are TOPICS for a DIFFERENT discussion.
NOR was any ATTEMPT made to suggest one “knows anything about news reporting.” Such things should be left to the “BU know all” experts.
However, one does not have to “know about news reporting” to UNDERSTAND the INITIAL discussion was based on the comment re: “one of our leading publications, (Barbados Today), re-wrote a story from a UK publication about that incident,” which is a bit misleading, especially when one reads the BT alluded to (August 15, 2019) ……….
………… and we have NOW gone in a “TOTALLY NEW and COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION” by implying an attempt is being made to “justify a badly written report” and one should “stop settling for mediocrity,” which are totally irrelevant.
Where is the evidence to support those accusations?
According to one of BU’s experts, “I am out of the discussion.”
Coming out of the press conference the COP confirmed evidence collected so far indicates the fire was concentrated in the kitchen and the decease was not doused with kerosene.
Another bit of interesting info, local press inquired of the police everyday from the day of the incidence until death the status of the health of Crichlow. The police for reasons the COP could not explain refusal sharing the info with the media.
******** especially when one reads the BT article alluded to (August 15, 2019) ……….
@ Mariposa
Baje u say 34.but if the two babies and the father and the mother and son also the lady found on the beach
The now confirmed fiery death of the woman
The count comes to a whopping 40
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
FULLY AGREE WITH YOU
Is you head hard? The police have just made a statement about the lady who died as a result of the burns. The other m,tter is awaiting post mortem results.
@Hants
The COP advised this evening they are waiting for results of forensic evidence.
@Piece the Legend August 15, 2019 9:00 AM “The murders show a Piss Poor Police Force, a useless Commissuoner of Police and an incompetent Attorney General Teets Marshall!”
For me the murders show the MALE love of violence.
Notice that women live in this place too, and as far as we know not one woman has killed anybody this year, not a man, not a woman, not a child.
We need to ask ourselves:
Why?
A 2013 global study on homicide by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that men accounted for about 96 percent of all homicide perpetrators WORLDWIDE and 79% of the victims.
The U.N, said so. Not me. Because when I draw the FACT of male violence to the largely male BU audience, I am accused of “hating men”
Men need to fix themselves, and all will be well in our world.
@ SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife,
If we were to use your simple logic then women should not give birth to males. How about the females of this world making a pact to abort all male children. Problem solved. The murder rate would revert to zero.
Don’t be silly TLSN. My logic is not simple. The worldwide MALE propensity for violence is something that must be discussed, and solutions must be found. Trying somehow to blame male violence of women giving birth to male babies is contemptible.
Please note that male babies do not murder anyone.
The questions should be, why to men between the ages of 18 and 50 committ so many of the world’s murders.
But you can continue to hide your head in the sand, and continue to find ways to blame women for the murders committed by ADULT MEN.
If men murdered at the same rate as women, the murder rate for Barbados this year would be zero
ZERO.
Worldwide it is a problem created and sustained by MEN.
Nobody is compelled to committ murder.
MEN choose to murder.
The COP is misleading the people
The lady spoke as to what happen before she died . The COP told a story that is in total contrast to what the lady said happen to her in a whats app video
Why fid it take a British newspaper for thos govt to bring details of there version of what happened
In any event the lady account speaks as to what happened on that fateful day to her
How come police investigations never dispute {earlier) in the investigations what the lady said
Isnt it interesting that now the lady is dead and cannot refute or challenge what the COP said about her being ablaze with fire..the COP after sitting on evidence for weeks now finds it plausible to bring to the public domain a story of a gas stove and an exploding pot
file:///storage/emulated/0/Download/video-1565911169.mp4
The COP must take the british media for fools
There is a very good possibility that the british news media did a background check of the deceased woman to see if she was credible before publishing the story
The COP might just have done the justice system a disservice in his effort to cover for govt and lay blame on the victim
Now the whole world gets to see hiw corrupt barbados can be
@ SirSimpleSimonPresidentForLife August 15, 2019 6:53 PM
Simplistic Simon(e), why don’t you cut out the bullshi**t and address the rather pertinent query raised by TLSN?
Wouldn’t the selective aborting of male f(o)etuses by female doctors under the Medical Termination of Pregnancies Act be the answer to the scourge of male violence in Bim?
Would you agree that the high incidence of male violence carries a high correlation coefficient with the phenomenon where over 70% of babies born in matrifocal Barbados are birthed by single mothers where, in most cases, the ‘baby fadders’ are no where to be found; hence the need for a legally-imposed cock tax?
Stop blaming men or males and blame Father Yahweh or the wuthless wo(e)man called Eve aka the murdering Mudder Nature.
@Miller August 15, 2019 8:39 PM “Simplistic Simon(e), why don’t you cut out the bullshi**t and address the rather pertinent query raised by TLSN? Wouldn’t the selective aborting of male f(o)etuses by female doctors under the Medical Termination of Pregnancies Act be the answer to the scourge of male violence in Bim?”
No. I don’t think so. The very serious question is, why is it that in every country of the world MEN kill at rates significantly higher than women.
And is it necessary to do something about this?
And if so what?
I don’t see aborting male fetuses, who have never done any harm to anyone as any kind of solution. Why are you suggesting this instead of coming up with a sensible solution.? For the most part 10 year old boys do not kill, neither do 15 year old boys. So leave them alone please. And deal with the adult males, the real killers killers.
Adult male violence as a Barbados thing. It is a worldwide thing.
Adult male violence is NOT only a Barbados thing. It is a worldwide thing.
@ Mariposa
I do not know if you are a journalist, but you are right in your submission. Ignore the cause of death of the British woman for the moment, the fact, which I raised originally, is that both stories published by Barbados Today should not have been published in their current form.
They are badly written, badly sub-edited, badly reviewed by the news editor and the editor, the ultimate eyes, should have been disciplined for allowing such a poor news story to be published.
But Barbados Today has form. I remember a couple years ago reading a story so badly written that I emailed the reporter and attempted to point out the shortcomings in the story and offered to privately assist if he wanted me to. He replied that he was a senior reporter and too busy to entertain me.
Just close your eyes and imagine those two stories, in their current form, being published in the New York Times, the Sydney Herald, The Times, Daily Mail, or any other leading newspaper in the advanced world. In fact, they would not have been published in any British local newspaper.
About the second story, it is clearly a follow up on the UK publications, just read it. To say otherwise is stupidity. Let me explain an elementary principle of journalism: the local paper and reporters (reporters on local papers have patches or geographical areas which they cover) are expected to know almost everything of news value on their patch. Clearly this was not the case with this story.
As to the mention of the Stoebroek News, that is elementary as has been explained. If a newspaper 3000 miles away gets a story from a Caribbean newspaper (Guyana is part of the Caribbean) they naturally assumed (wrongly) that if the story was about Barbados then the paper reporting the story must be a local paper. They assumed local newspapers were on top of the story. That is the problem with Googling.
But the fundamental shortcoming was that of the local papers; they were not on top of the story and then we had the ignominy of a leading local paper following up a story written from 3000 miles away about a local incident. Disgraceful. As to how the woman died etc those are matters for the investigators, not the press. Newspapers just report stories.
I will end on two little tales: on May 24, 2018, we had a general election with 130 candidates, representing five political parties, vying for 30 seats. I have been waiting for a detailed report on the election since then. Nothing.
The other is Rihanna, a local billionaire and international superstar who commands the press across the globe. Books have been written about her, which is fair enough, including one written by a Brit journalist which is no more than newspaper clipping stitched together.
There is still a book to be written, which could best be done locally: Rihanna, the Early Years. Where is it? We get bad local journalism because the reading public do not care, or do not know any better.
In the mid-1950s Barbados had seven newspapers which produced excellent journalists: Robert Best, Carlton Proute, Jimmy Cozier, et al. They had photographers like Gordon Brookes’ father. In those days people looked up to the Advocate. All we have left now is Gercine Carter, and even though she looks like a teenager, she is no spring chicken. And he was outstanding from her days at Foundation. We have gone backward.
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