I am in complete agreement with the findings of Mark Jewel as expressed in his letter captioned, ‘Freddie misunderstands Misir’s and Persaud’s motive’ (KN, December 29). This was in response to an assertion by Freddie Kissoon in relation to Drs Misir and Randy Persaud’s continued validation of the Kaieteur News as a credible information dissemination medium, contrary to the expressed desires of their boss. Although I believe that Mr Kissoon’s comment was more a utilization of Guyanese cultural expression, rather than any real puzzlement with respect to the motives of Drs Misir and Persaud, I have to commend Mark Jewel’s adroit and concise illumination of the devious efforts in play to silence voices that refuse to digest and proliferate the sour milk of partisan propaganda when it comes to issues affecting Guyana. The Orwellian and avaricious monopolization of the national media apparatus, and the discriminatory issuance of licences for popularly accessible forms of media apparatus, provide more than enough evidence to corroborate Jewel’s findings.
The mindsets of the pundits and bloggers who are assigned or elect to run interference for the elected dictatorship of Guyana, seemingly were all cast from the same mould. Their arguments and contentions follow a distinct and recognizable pattern.
They come over to the objective bystander or compos mentis critic as glaze-eyed and euphoric members of a selective and exclusive club, where belonging is a privilege that is prioritized over mundane things like usefulness and functionality. For them, the views of those on the outside, that is to say those who have not been converted to the roles of supplicants, have no place in any conversation or discussion relative to ‘their club.’ Freedom of information and speech, like equality, justice and labour rights, must be conditioned by a determination of who is exercising it, who it benefits, and who is deserving. A brazen-faced display of hubris and intolerance impelled one such convert to write a letter proposing that a newspaper allow only favourable comments about the PPP government on its blog.
The PPP government and its pundits exhibit a dog-and-bone attitude when it comes to the dissemination of information in Guyana. That is why I describe it as avaricious. Despite having total control over all three facets of the state-owned media and a disproportionate advantage in the privately owned media in terms of access and views, they still greedily grasp for more. The PPP government, through the agency of state-funded ads, have been able to coerce all but a few in the information business in Guyana to marginalize the views of that segment of the population that refuses to vote for them. They use the pages of the state-owned print media and partisanly licensed private surrogate to indulge in bottom-feeding vilification of those who dare to point at the nakedness of their emperor, and the corrupt operations in ‘their club.’ And in examples of hypocrisy, they demand values and conduct from others that seem to be as remote and alien to them, as the sun is from the earth.
Yours faithfully,
Robin Williams
