Dear Editor,
The President’s description of the media as “lazy” is in my opinion a warranted criticism. I am sure other citizens would agree with me when I say media houses today present a daily upsurge of tainted facts in the news, where factual information evidently fades away through subjective news broadcasts.
The Guyana Press Association (GPA) needs to realize that being the fourth estate the media plays a very important role in society whether it’s by eliminating distortion or acting as an objective informer; nothing should impair that role. And many Guyanese journalists are quite adept at constructing distortions.
A journalist should aim to disseminate fair and accurate information, despite the source they get it from and this is where editors have to be more vigilant. One doesn’t need to be an exemplary journalist to recognize that bias could easily emerge if a sensitive story is told with the inappropriate use of time and space; after all we are talking about news items and not documentaries.
The GPA should be less defensive and accept the fact that some media houses are losing the canon of journalism to repetition and un-newsworthiness and they should start taking immediate corrective measures.
Yours faithfully,
Tanuja Khan
