Category: MATT

Media, Social Media and Trinidad and Tobago: A New Twist

November 17, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

Edmund Gall has been asking some good questions and making good observations regarding media and social media in Trinidad and Tobago - 'Can The Dinosaurs of T&T Media Accept Change?' and 'Can The Media Do No Wrong?'   are worth reading. I agree with his observations for the most part because his observations are based on facts. And while I didn't have comment for his articles, I do have some things I want to add into the mix.

With a torrent of threads within Social Media itself regarding the reporter who was recently banned from Trinidad and Tobago Parliament, it seems as good a time as any to point out a few things.

Oddly, when people are discussing the ban of the reporter, they forget that the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago recently demanded an apology of Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh - and why. That situation, barely covered here, became an issue because members of Parliament were avoiding the media.

They also seem to forget that there was a big uproar by the media about the potential licensing of journalists within CARICOM. CARICOM's response was that it was not discussing the licensing of journalists. I expect that, as a member of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago, people were dismayed at my lack of stance on the topic while it was a topic.

Now I'll mix these together.
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Can the media do no wrong?

November 14, 2009 by Edmund Gall

It's being reported today that our House of Representative's Privileges Committee has recommended that Newsday reporter, Andre Bhagoo, be banned for the remainder of this Parliament's session for being guilty of contempt of Parliament, arising from premature publishing in the Newsday of the activities of a House sub-committee before it reported its findings to Parliament (which contravenes both the Standing Orders and Erskine May Parliamentary Practice).

MATT has stated that it's a bit harsh, since the Newsday's editor has taken full responsibility for the act and apologised.  Apparently, similar acts have occurred before and the trend has been to accept the apology and move on.

This has led bloggers to criticise the government for the proposed action, as the Privileges Committee is comprised predominantly of PNM members.  Some bloggers have used this as an entry point to a discussion on fascism - see the comments following the article on the Guardian.  Some are calling for other media houses to boycott Parliament in protest.  Others see it as another example of the PNM's attempts to muzzle anyone who criticises it - apparently Mr Bagoo reports frequently on UDeCOTT issues.  Most see it as a threat to freedom of the press.

Here's the thing.  The Newsday has acknowledged that it did wrong.  So why is banning the reporter for the rest of the session (about a month, since the session ends 16 Dec 2009) being viewed as a threat to freedom of the press? {Read more}