Dear Editor,
Anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I have no personal political convictions or personal agendas, but in fact, I have a voice which I often use whenever I see, or am confronted with issues I disagree with. Today I am referring to a letter written by none other than Mr. Kit Nascimento, a known and respected media consultant with a sound journalistic background.
My concern is not with whether the VP or Mr. Su are victims of some nefarious attack, but with the way Mr. Nascimento views an international news media, in this case VICE NEWS, as ”Clearly having an agenda” in their controversial news probe involving our VP. Well sure they do, all news organizations have agendas, otherwise how would they go after issues they feel are newsworthy, and yes, even sensational. However, to suggest that theirs, in this case, is to use a well-known tactic, which is to embroil the VP in a corrupt accusation by tossing sufficient mud at him knowing that some will stick, is pure conjecture.
The Stabroek News Editorial of Saturday February 12, 2022 states it well, and I quote, “It is not likely that they (VICE NEWS) simply said, let’s go fishing for a news story in Guyana and happened to stumble on Mr. Su, nor is it likely that they made all this up.” Also, I disagree with Mr. Nascimento when he said that, in his view, the VP mistakenly granted the interview. Maybe he should have had a professional spokesperson take the interview, or at least the questions, but as the Stabroek’s editorial also suggested, the VP could have felt that VICE NEWS was genuinely interested in his opinion on oil, the environment and his grand vision for Guyana. If so, that’s a big mistake not to have had the agenda properly understood and stick to it. In that situation the VP would have had ample wiggle room to abort the interview in a dignified manner. To have altogether refused the interview, could have had led to greater suspicions and more digging by VICE NEWS. Mr. Nascimento, a seasoned campaigner, must know that a professional journalist does not ask soft questions when digging, so to have shown journalist Isobel Yeung the door for doing so could have only made matters worse.
As Mr. Nascimento correctly stated, in our newly found wealth we will attract the “Attention Curse” as he brands it, but this is even more reason why the government must not be reactive, but rather proactive in anticipating such situations and have proper protocols in place, as well as be armed with well trained professionals who are able to deal with these delicate, and other troublesome or potential, scandals.
Sincerely,
Bernard Ramsay
