A peak in 2021
I wish that I could look in a crystal ball and see what 2021 holds, if that was the case I would make a lot more money than I currently do.
2020 started with so much promise, from the potential which was advertised to this island’s citizens and others about the potential for spill-off impacts from ‘We Gatherin’ 2020’.
In fact, the cynic in me would harken it to the way in which the Home stay-over program, which was part of the 2007 ICC CWC WI 2007, where the selling point was the crush of visitors to the island would overwhelm the hotel stock.
I remember being summoned to a press conference in late 2006, where on a Saturday morning before 10 a.m. at LESC, we were made to wait on a tardy Minister of Tourism and International Transport, for what ultimately could have been a press release.
The media were told that the tardy arrival was due to traffic, which we all looked at each other and smirked. Those smirks quickly faded when we were given hypotheticals and then when asked about the costs of the exercises and the liabilities of those who got into the program, we were told that this would be a fantastic event for the island and the legacy of it would redound to the benefit of this island and would be a boon for the island, if only we would believe and not be nay-sayers.
The lesson was two-fold. The public relations performance with the charts and the projections had a purpose. In Advertising and indeed public relations, you have to aim high. Oversell to generate interest and support, then look for other factors to blame if those projections and the reality did not manifest themselves in the outcomes that you wanted.
That is how we should look at all aspects of this country, as we quickly approach the start of 2021.
No one could have anticipated the prolonged and devastating impacts of COVID-19 on this island’s economy and society, but acceptance must come with humility and a commitment to understanding that we must walk with not only faith, but a level of caution as well.
The signals are all around us, even as they now become visible to the media and the public at large, that the tapestry which has been carefully wound of a strong economy, has been cruelly exposed as one where the most vulnerable, the ones with little social and economic protections and live by one paycheque to another, means that the macro-economic talk which satisfies those in authority and those who they look to for affirmation, means little to families who are struggling to keep up with bills and are scared of what to expect in 2021.
A lot was said about the drought of 2020, but given the extreme levels of rains which we have been having in the last few months, when will authorities address the situation?
What is the status of the BWA’s Prohibition and when will the public be updated as to the levels at Bowmaston for instance, as media were taken on a tour into one of the wells to showcase low levels?
What about the Highway 1 road repairs? Just two weeks ago, contractors damaged a 16-inch main and water was off in at least parts of three parishes. This part was conveniently left off the upbeat forecast of the works being done.
In terms of respect, we heard BARJAM, through its President, finally address the unacceptable disrespect which has been directed towards the media from various sectors within the community – namely the trade union movement. I must commend other media for also making that point clear, that it would not accept any suggestion of whom media should and should not cover.
Media in this country have placed themselves in this position, through accepting disrespect over the years. The press release/press conference with no questions is a normal thing or the placing of media in positions where access to quality photographs is impossible.
Look at the 2020 Independence Parade and Awards, for instance, and the photographers being placed at a distance where quality photographs were impossible.
The angle called for photographers to have to shoot over the shoulder of the attendants to the Governor General and with decorative plants placed at those locations, then the media would have been in trouble. Media were forced to take shots from behind or wait until the Government Information Service (GIS) provided standard shots which media could use.
It is frankly disrespectful, but it is not in isolation. This is the second year this travesty has taken place, since the new arrangement was put in place of the awards during the service. If you want to pre-package information, then simply stream the event, organise the photographs and send to media. This control of flow of information is gone past the limits of acceptability!
We also had a leader effectively beg the public for more time to get things done during an Independence Address, after blasting a previous government for ‘implementation deficit’. Why should time be provided when timelines were offered up in 2018, when power was being sought? As the speech was taking place, water pressure was low in some parishes as work continued on Highway 1, but we are being told that to fix roads means inconvenience.
As the Scotland District slips, we were being told that the work has to be developed and plans put in place, but every two days in the lead-up to General Elections, the team led by the same speaker was in White Hill, St. Andrew.
As my grandmother would say, pick sense from nonsense.
I always say that the media outlive administrations and personalities. 2020 will fade very soon as 2021 arrives, but the horrors of this year will linger in next year.
Have we learnt the lessons of over-promising and under-delivering and opting for feel-good optics versus owning up and facing the harsh realities for Barbadians?
Time will tell.