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EDITORIAL - Bad lapse by Vaz, Samuda
EDITORIAL - Bad lapse by Vaz, Samuda
Published: Thursday | November 26, 2009
Despite the occasional lapse by public officials who flex ominously against the press, the Jamaican media have escaped the worst of the intrusions by governments or acts of impunity faced by journalists in some countries, who sometimes pay for freedom with their lives.
For though they at times chafe under its scrutiny, Jamaica's leaders, by and large, admit to the media's role as a watchdog of governance, as underlined by Prime Minister Golding's declared commitment to modernising the island's defamation laws, thereby widening the space within which the press can operate.
But given Jamaica's high level of criminal violence and the failure of the state to adequately maintain public order and deliver justice, this newspaper appreciates the need for vigilance. Nothing can be taken for granted; no one in the press can presume himself/herself insulated from the dangers faced by people in the wider society.
Surprising and disappointing
We, therefore, take it seriously if journalists, or whole sections of the media, are targeted. And we would expect the same of members of a political party and government whose leader embraces, as Mr Golding has done, the critical role of the press in a liberal democracy. Which is why we find surprising and disappointing the responses to recent events by Mr Daryl Vaz, the information minister, and Mr Karl Samuda, a senior minister and general secretary of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Last week, the police reported that they had picked up worrying chatter, if not definitive evidence, of threats against this newspaper and the RJR Communications Group because of their reporting on the case of the reputed West Kingston 'don', Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, on whose request for extradition by the United States the Jamaican government has dithered.
Mr Coke, who the Americans accuse of drug smuggling and gunrunning, is considered close to the ruling party. He happens to have his base in Tivoli Gardens, the heart of JLP support in Prime Minister Golding's West Kingston constituency.
At the time of the police's warning, the newspaper adopted the necessary precautions and allowed the constabulary to get on with its investigations, attempting to do nothing that might impede its work.
Casual and cavalier manner
We, however, were taken aback at the casual and cavalier manner in which Messrs Samuda and Vaz, especially the latter gentleman who, dealing with portfolio constituents, responded to the reported threats. They attempted, on the face of it, to parse and wiggle the police's report into a fanciful fabrication, even as they declared abhorrence at a possible threat.
There is nothing incompatible, of course, in a reporter's undisturbed presence at a political party's constituency conference and a threat against the organisation for which he works unless it is presumed he/she to be a specific victim to be attacked before hundreds of witnesses. Nor do the police have a responsibility to report a threat against the press to the Cabinet for the the matter to be placed on the agenda of the meeting of ministers.
It is not too late for Mr Samuda and Mr Vaz to apologise for their lapse into political puerility and do what ought to have been done in the first place: forthrightly condemn any threat, however slight it might have been. The police, we are sure, would accept. So would we.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
Published: Thursday | November 26, 2009
Despite the occasional lapse by public officials who flex ominously against the press, the Jamaican media have escaped the worst of the intrusions by governments or acts of impunity faced by journalists in some countries, who sometimes pay for freedom with their lives.
For though they at times chafe under its scrutiny, Jamaica's leaders, by and large, admit to the media's role as a watchdog of governance, as underlined by Prime Minister Golding's declared commitment to modernising the island's defamation laws, thereby widening the space within which the press can operate.
But given Jamaica's high level of criminal violence and the failure of the state to adequately maintain public order and deliver justice, this newspaper appreciates the need for vigilance. Nothing can be taken for granted; no one in the press can presume himself/herself insulated from the dangers faced by people in the wider society.
Surprising and disappointing
We, therefore, take it seriously if journalists, or whole sections of the media, are targeted. And we would expect the same of members of a political party and government whose leader embraces, as Mr Golding has done, the critical role of the press in a liberal democracy. Which is why we find surprising and disappointing the responses to recent events by Mr Daryl Vaz, the information minister, and Mr Karl Samuda, a senior minister and general secretary of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Last week, the police reported that they had picked up worrying chatter, if not definitive evidence, of threats against this newspaper and the RJR Communications Group because of their reporting on the case of the reputed West Kingston 'don', Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, on whose request for extradition by the United States the Jamaican government has dithered.
Mr Coke, who the Americans accuse of drug smuggling and gunrunning, is considered close to the ruling party. He happens to have his base in Tivoli Gardens, the heart of JLP support in Prime Minister Golding's West Kingston constituency.
At the time of the police's warning, the newspaper adopted the necessary precautions and allowed the constabulary to get on with its investigations, attempting to do nothing that might impede its work.
Casual and cavalier manner
We, however, were taken aback at the casual and cavalier manner in which Messrs Samuda and Vaz, especially the latter gentleman who, dealing with portfolio constituents, responded to the reported threats. They attempted, on the face of it, to parse and wiggle the police's report into a fanciful fabrication, even as they declared abhorrence at a possible threat.
There is nothing incompatible, of course, in a reporter's undisturbed presence at a political party's constituency conference and a threat against the organisation for which he works unless it is presumed he/she to be a specific victim to be attacked before hundreds of witnesses. Nor do the police have a responsibility to report a threat against the press to the Cabinet for the the matter to be placed on the agenda of the meeting of ministers.
It is not too late for Mr Samuda and Mr Vaz to apologise for their lapse into political puerility and do what ought to have been done in the first place: forthrightly condemn any threat, however slight it might have been. The police, we are sure, would accept. So would we.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
yuh nuh see is america's favourite holiday? why yuh waan start someting tidday? yuh turkey stuff arready?
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