THE EDITOR: World Press Freedom Day was celebrated around the world on May 3, including here in TT.
We have a right to celebrate this day. We are highly ranked on the World Press Freedom Index and our reporters have shown they are willing and able to report on news for and against government policies, decisions and actions.
To the best of my understanding and memory, I can’t remember in recent times, outside of scoldings issued from platforms and answered in editorials and newscasts, any reporter being threatened or silenced.
This while we live in a politically charged, fuelled and divisive country, and a world where reporters on the front lines of political and environmental issues are losing their freedom and lives.
So, imagine my surprise when I saw a media release on social media (which is probably the greatest threat to democracy and just plain common sense) by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar describing the local media as being under attack.
The Opposition Leader’s concern would have made more sense had she looked at her own team and called out people like Senators Anil Roberts and David Nakhid for the attacks they have repeatedly made on media houses and radio stations.
She could have also singled out people she would politically marry, like Gary Griffith and Phillip Alexander, and decided if they hold the same high regard for the media and press freedom that she speaks about. Their frequent posts to social media would suggest otherwise.
Press freedom in this country is healthy and should not be cried down for political mileage or because the egos of some aspirants to office, or even some reporters themselves, have been bruised.
The more real and pressing issue we face today is the same the world over: an assault on truth that primarily comes on social media platforms like TikTok, X and Facebook and sometimes makes its way into newspapers and newscasts.
If there is a threat to be addressed it isn’t the freedom of the press or the freedom of speech, it is the irresponsible behaviour of political actors who grab sound bites and clips and spread them over social media to be consumed and redistributed by supporters of their parties or their divisive rhetoric.
And in this case, the Opposition Leader as the head of her party, responsible for the actions of her team, must hold the majority of the blame.
Unfortunately, given the way she has personally criticised long-standing members of her party and others who have spoken out against her own policies, I don’t see that happening and we all will suffer as a result.
In the meantime, I am old enough to not get caught up with how someone says something to me. I focus on what they have said. Maybe that’s a blessing my generation received that no longer exists in a world where it’s more about how something makes you feel than what the truth is.
Truth isn’t always nice or pleasant, but it is always the truth.
DANIEL P WILLIAM
Diego Martin
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