Dear Editor,
Why has Stabroek News chosen to ignore QC?
Queen’s College is currently celebrating its 175th anniversary. Since its foundation in August 1844, Queen’s College has maintained its position as a school of excellence, by dominating the local academic scene.
The College, accepted as Guyana’s leading secondary school has made and continues to make an invaluable contribution to Guyana and the international community.
In its 175 years of existence, Queen’s College has produced outstanding Guyanese in every field of endeavour: academics, politics, culture, law, science and technology. Four of Guyana’s nine Presidents, Forbes Burnham, Cheddi Jagan, Samuel Hinds and David Granger were educated at Queen’s College.
Why then, has the Stabroek News chosen to ignore such a significant milestone of this remarkable institution?
It is concerning that, to date, Stabroek News has made a decision not to report on any of the activities associated with the 175th anniversary of Queen’s College.
Stabroek News is keen to refer to itself as an independent daily newspaper, but its failure to report on such a significant milestone of this educational institution, which continues to play a pivotal role in Guyana’s history, denies the public access to valuable information about the school’s accomplishments and its immediate plans.
Queen’s College provides an elite standard of education to a significant number of public-school students. The Stabroek News’ decision not to publish information about the school’s anniversary denies a significant portion of the population access to valuable information.
The media are vehicles through which citizens receive and transmit information. Independently-controlled and professionally constituted media are essential to the freedom of expression.
Information is a public good. It is a non-rivalrous and non-excludable service. Free access to information is an inalienable right of every Guyanese citizen. It is an indispensable condition of a democratic society.
It therefore can be argued that by failing to report on the 175th anniversary activities of Queen’s College, Stabroek News is purposely denying the public access to information.
It should be noted that on Tuesday, October 29, 2019, all media organisations including the Stabroek News were invited to cover the 175th General Assembly of Queen’s College. All other newspapers provided coverage to the school’s activity and published same.
Yours faithfully,
Mark A. Archer
Editor’s note:
The academic excellence of Queen’s College is routinely reported by this newspaper as was the case with the most recent CSEC and CAPE results. Mr Archer should be aware that the newspaper also pays attention to other aspects of the well-being of QC and its students, such as for instance the state of its ground which reportage thankfully led to its restoration from grossly decrepit circumstances. While milestones are surely important, coverage of these usually have to compete with other events of the day in terms of news value. Mr Archer can rest assured that QC’s 175th anniversary activities have not been ignored by the newspaper.
