Dear Editor,
There is a prevailing consensus among certain Guyanese that the Editor-in-Chief of the Stabroek News, Guyana’s independent daily, has sold his soul to the devil to regain PPP government advertising in his newspaper. The behaviour of the Stabroek News ever since the Govern-ment of Guyana restored government ads to it is disgracefully anti-black and patently pretentious. The government had ceased doing business with the paper for alleged biased reporting two years ago but restored ads last month. Now there seems to have been a nefarious deal, as the paper has emerged as a rancid sourpuss against black interests, and marching to the tune of the Guyanese ruling party.
During the period of the suspension of the ads, its owner, Mr David de Caires, a Portuguese-Guyanese, led an international campaign claiming that press freedom was under siege in Guyana, which was selfish, haughty and grossly insular at best.
He disregarded attacks on African-Guyanese members of the journalistic fraternity, the many attacks on the Guyana Press Association, the murder of journalist Ronald Waddell who once worked for him but whose sin was being black, and the criminal arrest and imprisonment of journalist Mark Benschop. Not once did he mention these other journalistic interests in his egocentric endeavours. How stink? Now that he is back in bed with the racist PPP, he promotes their interest and ignores the oppression of the Afro-Guyanese population.
There is no question in my mind that the Stabroek News pursues an anti-black agenda. It refused to cover the remarks of the Chief Magistrate of Guyana, Ms Juliet Holder-Allen, when she held a press conference last week to highlight the government’s discriminatory actions against her. It subsequently downplayed this rather important development by reporting it days later.
It also refused to cover the very large opposition demonstration last week and then editorialized against it – an epistle reminiscent of how Jim Crow ‘red-necks’ of the segregation era in America, attempted to lecture African-Americans on what their rights were.
The Stabroek News also diluted the significance of President Bharrat Jagdeo’s suspension of the licence of Sharma TV Channel 6, because the station champions the interests of blacks, the working class and the poor in Guyana.
Its mission is not in keeping with the agenda of the elitists at Stabroek News.
In the ideal world we should not divide ourselves by ethnicity, as we strive for a truly harmonious, multi-cultural society.
However, the PPP, the Stabroek News and others, enforce these ethnic divisions daily in Guyana. Hence, as the grandson of another Portuguese-Guyanese, I feel constrained to say that it’s time that we get real with these self-appointed elitists and narcissistic charlatans.
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, pontificates like a duck and behaves like a duck, then it is what it is – a duck! Many racist agendas are being played out in Guyana today and we must reject them.
My advice to Mr de Caires is to putdown his bag of ‘golf clubs’ and blinders, and pick up equality, fairness and journalistic professionalism and integrity.
Yours faithfully,
Rickford Burke
Editor’s note
1. The Stabroek News has done no deal with the government.
2. Exactly why Mr Burke should consider that this newspaper should have included other issues in its campaign to have state ads returned is unclear. Whatever criticisms the government might have made of the Guyana Press Association, for example, it was not under pressure of closure. As far as Mr Ronald Waddell is concerned, we gave that murder very full, front-page coverage, and editorialized on the need for the police to find his killers and charge them. Mr Mark Benschop’s case was also fully covered, and an editorial published on the delay in his case being heard.
3. We did not carry the substance of Ms Holder-Allen’s press conference immediately, because her charges were a repeat of what she had said before and which we had already printed. Although she had nothing new to say, we nevertheless carried the story.
4. Contrary to what Mr Burke claims, we did carry a story on the “very large opposition demonstration.”
5. We have not in any way diluted the “significance… of the suspension of the licence of Sharma TV Channel 6” – quite the opposite in fact. Again the matter received front-page coverage, we editorialized on it, and members of staff of this newspaper, including the daily editor, participated in the candlelight vigil outside Channel 6.
6. Finally, the editorial to which Mr Burke refers, was written by the Sunday Editor, and not Mr de Caires.
Thank you stabroek news for providing the news daily ,depite the challenges in recent time your papers stayed on course i am happy with your reporting of the news and providing the comments for the public to add their say on any toppic in the news once again keep up the good job.
It is hard to believe after reading SN editorial “Normallity?” that SN has no turned a blind eye to the PPP excesses and has now chosen to attack the right of the marginalised to protest. Understandably this editorial hurts those who supported SN when the government wanted to do it in. Sorry SN if you feel hurt but let’s face reality your editorial was a reminder of the good old days when you supported the PPP excesses.
I wonder if Mr. Burke knows the devil and what he does. He should start thinking about the president and his ministers. He should study their behaviour and ask others what is devilish behaviour, if he doesn’t know what devilish behaviour is look at what they allow on tv, what they do in their secret lives. Can they all declare their assets. Remember Mr. Burke the devil came to kill,to steal and to destroy.
How quickly they forget!!!!
When the PPP regime withdrew the ads from SN, they were up in arms. Now SN is turning a blind eye to the high handedness and excesses.
Sooner rather than later SN will come face to face with the high handedness of this regime once again!
The period between the suspension and resumption of ads in the Stabroek News saw the most independent and courageous reporting that has ever taken place in Guyana. Maybe in time a retrospective of that period, and capsuled periods before and after will be done by some enterprising journalistic student.
Maybe the SN has become gun shy. Guyana is a small market, and is run by a vindictive and unethical administration. With the exception of a scattering of individuals here and there, stake holders who come from other ethnic groupings are not particularly bothered by issues that affect Guyanese of African Descent, and are unwilling to risk the wrath of the state by being perceived as championing concerns from that corner of the populace.
Every newspaper in this Country came out in vilification against the words uttered by Ronald Waddell. They labeled it as racist, when nothing in it attacked any other group, and it was a statement in defence of one group. But he was vilified so horribly I believe that the climate was created for his assassination.
Contrast that with endless letters and comments by many on the other side of the population spectrum who praised the work of the phantom killers. Never has any newspaper deemed it balanced to be as offended by defense of these killers as they were about those they perceived Waddell was praising. Syllogistically speaking, if A=B and B=C, it stands to reason that A=C.
You seem to be the racist here. What a mouthfull. Lord have mercy.
Who cares and who is interested in what deCaires colour/race is?
You are the one who is promoting racism here by branding people by their race/colour.
Anyway how do you know if he a real Portuguese or not?
Give it break, if you want to rant and rave over the man’s politics and newspaper fine but ,leave his colour out of it.
Enough Enough racism in Guyana.
Ricky, Ricky Baby! What 37 yrs old, and a graduate at that.
Mustn’t forget ex member of the YSM, but you seem to have a lot of issues – You been away too long. You need to come back down to earth!
I don’t think you really know that much about Guyana any longer nor the SN for that matter – u been in the US too long. Black, Brown, White – we gotta get away from all this bigotry Mr. Clear.
Guyana is still taught 6 peoples and they role play in school – so start with the Ministry of Education re racial incitement.
Come back to Guyana – live heh wid deh bretheren – feel deh Vibes!!
Burke, pipe down, take a hike and then jog in, take a bath and a towel to your skin. SN is not racial to anyone non-racial and they have not compromised their soul.
You need to relax a bit! Sometimes, and I mean sometimes……you just could get it wrong. Don’t be ridiculous now! They have always paid their due, regardless of which administration is in power.