EDITORIAL - A word to the wise is enough

Though no election date has officially been set, across the length and breadth of this country politicians have been mounting platforms to promote their partisan messages to the people. In their quest to drum up support for their proposed policies among their bases, and perhaps sway undecided voters to their side, some have actually gotten onto the platform and made some remarks that one can only
describe as irresponsible and thoughtless, to say the least.

For politicians to sometimes make unwise remarks on a platform is nothing new, this newspaper has certainly seen a lot of that in our almost 123 years of existence. We have seen all manner of persons enter politics and unfortunately have heard all manner of things said on the platform; and it is with such experience under our belt that we advise the current crop of politicians to think before they speak.

We especially feel compelled to offer this bit of advice given remarks made by a candidate for the next election at a recent meeting, where he sought to call the professional integrity of the media of this country into question. But he is not the first to have gone this route, but we indeed hope that he will be last. We well remember in a previous campaign another candidate parading on a stage and declaring to all within earshot, that the newspapers were not good even to wipe one’s buttocks with.

Fact is, it has been years that the media has been criticised for how it goes about informing the public, and the unfortunate reality is that often it is the journalists who are out and about that become the object of that criticism. We have lost track of the many times that politicians get on the stage and say ‘those media people do this or those media people do that’, and in an automatic response all heads in the crowd turn in the direction of the journalists present and they get a verbal beating from people in the crowd.

We say emphatically that such behaviour cannot be condoned, and we call on the politicians to cease and desist. We acknowledge that not everything that is published in the newspapers or broadcast on the radio or television is something that they like, but if there is a problem, deal one-on-one with that media house and ask for a retraction or correction; seek legal recourse if you want. Certainly they would give you an audience and allow you to tell your side of the story, but DO NOT lump all of them into the same basket and then when they cannot defend themselves, lash out at the representatives of the media houses when they are out doing their jobs.

No politician has to like what the media carries, they do not even have to like the people who work in the media, but they should give them the same respect that they would expect as aspiring leaders in this country.

The fact is it takes only one fanatic in a crowd to decide to take what has been spewed on the platform to heart, take matters into their own hands to “avenge” their party, and worst case scenario, physically attack the journalists. Our journalists, who for the most part are female, should not be afraid to go out there and do their job.

Now, do not for a minute think that such could not happen in peaceful Barbados, which often does not rock the boat. The dynamics of politics across the world are changing, and sad to say, it may only be a matter of time before it reaches us. The evidence is there, one only has to cast one’s mind back to the 2016 election campaign in the United States where violence took centre stage at some rallies, and the media was heavily criticised and rebuked. We do not want to see Barbados get to that stage.