By Lesroy W. Williams Observer Reporter
I regard the National Consultation on Crime held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Dec. 12 as another charade until I see some positive results. I make no apologies for this dismal view because of what I experienced from the group discussion of which I was a part. I left the group discussion with many questions, some of which I will attempt to answer in this article. Is the media a conspirator against the government? Is the media responsible for the upsurge in crime? Should crime be reported on the back pages of newspapers or hidden away in some insignificant corner? Is the reporting of crime keeping tourists away from the shores of this beautiful paradise we call St. Kitts and Nevis? The media is not the enemy of the public. The media have an ethical and professional responsibility in their reporting. There is no war between the government and the media.” There is no war between the law enforcement agencies and the media. I could not believe my ears when a prominent media personality, who claims to have years of media experience, said that from his observation over the past year that all the newspapers in the Federation, with the exception of the Labour Spokesman, had a “conspiracy against the government”.” I almost had a fit at this ludicrous statement that was so bankrupt of any semblance of intelligence.” I wondered about the agenda of this person but I bit my tongue. I wanted to ask him if he wanted to change his statement. Perhaps his statement should have been, “The government has a conspiracy against the media.” But then I knew that I would have brought myself to the same level of imbecility. Was I hearing this in Zimbabwe, where the ruthless Robert Mugabe Administration, oppresses and brutalizes the media for any kind of criticism against it? Was I in Russia, where the courageous Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, was shot execution style in October 2006, because she was a fierce critic of the war in Chechnya and the Russian government? I was not in China, where journalists are imprisoned. Neither was I in Burma and North Korea, where there are no independent journalists. I was in democratic St. Kitts and Nevis. Our Foreign Affairs ministers for the past 25 years of Independence have gone to the United Nations and lauded Democracy in our Federation. We have come too far now to allow freedom of the press to be threatened in this country. There can be no democracy without freedom of the press. While those in government and some in the society love to grumble about the latest headline or the way a story is written, the vital importance of a free press to a free society must be recognized. US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has been quoted as saying, “There is no more important pillar of democracy than a free and active press.” Just recently, on the Silver Jubilee of our independence, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas, said in his Independence address that our predecessors won for every Kittitian and Nevisian the right to a secondary education despite others” determination to keep them locked out, uneducated and uninformed. We want a society that is educated and informed and that is one of the roles of the media. However, the media can only be informed about what goes on in government when government is transparent and accountable. Where is the bridge collapse report that was promised the people? Where is the commission of enquiry into the electricity problems promised in 2004? There has been no report to date about the cause of the power plant fire in October of this year. Since 1996, the public has heard nothing of the report into the police ‘sick out” enquiry of 2006. The public has a right to know. When journalists question these things, then they are conspirators against the government. This is not so, journalist are simply doing their job of being the watchdogs of the society. The 18th century jurist and philosopher, Jeremy Bentham once said, “Where there is no publicity there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the very spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity.” It is unfortunate that we are where we are with this escalating crime rate related to gangs, guns and drugs, a deadly mix. The media has a responsibility and a duty to inform the society of these unwelcoming trends. The media does not glory in it; the media laments it like every decent law-abiding citizen. As much as newspapers have to sell, we take no pleasure in writing crime stories The media has a responsibility and a duty to make people aware of what is going on around them, so that we do not live in oblivion. When the World Trade Centre in New York was attacked, we stayed in our living rooms and watched every detail of it; when earthquakes and tsunamis devastate and wipe out thousands, it is transmitted to us via the media; when terrorists struck in Bali, Indonesia, killing hundreds, we watched and listened in shock; when Barrack Obama, became the 44th President of the United States, we danced for joy before our television sets at this historic moment. While I agree that some music, videos and publications of the media can be revolting, repulsive and morally reprehensible, I do not think that anti-social behavior in the society must be placed solely and squarely on the shoulders of the media. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to teach children to be critical thinkers in what they watch, read and listen to. We have to introduce a program into the school curriculum that uses popular media culture to teach children about good and bad values that are being portrayed in magazines, videos, songs etc. The Church has this responsibility as well along with other stakeholders. However, when it is time for Music Festival every year, the government brings in the popular dancehall artistes who are known for their violent and vulgar lyrics albeit they are censored when they come here. The fact of the matter is that every young person in this country knows what a number of them stand for in their songs and what has made them popular. Some people feel that crime should be relegated to the back pages of newspapers because it is bad publicity for countries that have tourist economies. I beg to disagree. I lived in Jamaica for a little over three years and crime is reported front page, in all its ugliness. Yet, Jamaica is one of those Caribbean countries where tourism is booming. When crime happens elsewhere we know about it. But when it happens in St. Kitts and Nevis, it must be silenced? I don’t know of any newspaper worldwide where crime including murders is not reported upfront. It is a matter of creating public awareness about national security. Our duty in this country is to work toward reducing crime, in order that our destination would be seen as a safe one to visit. And for most part, I think St. Kitts and Nevis is still seen to be safe. We all must come together to eradicate this scourge from among us before it gets worse. We want this cancer out. The media can help in this fight against crime by informing the public on matters of public safety and speaking out against the detriments of crime. The media must be fair and accurate in their reporting of the facts and they must never sacrifice the truth for economics. Law enforcement agencies must have a harmonious relationship with the media in combating and reporting crime. These two institutions should never be diametrically opposed. The law enforcement agencies need to make a breakthrough in curbing gang activity; otherwise we are only holding talk shops. What happened recently with the arrest of SKNVibes Chief Financial Officer and photo-journalist, Stachio Williams, for taking a photo of a crime scene, is an affront to freedom of the press and a case of police stupidity. While the National Consultation on Crime was going on, I received a report that another Cayon man was gunned down in the early morning. No mention was made of this at the consultation; no minute of silence in his honour. The media must not be used as a scapegoat when things go awry in this country; the media must no
t be blamed for the upsurge in crime; the media is not a conspirator against the government; the media is not an enemy of law enforcement. I want to end with a quote from a paper presented to Freedom House and Broadcasting Board of Governors by Karen Hughes, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, in Washington D.C., on May 1, 2007. “Freedom of the press is often called the First Freedom, and for good reason. — in effect, it protects freedom of thought and expression. A free press is indispensable to a vigorous debate and an informed electorate. Journalists hold government officials to account -I think one of the best ethics tests ever devised is: would you be comfortable reading about this decision or action on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper – above the fold. Journalists expose corruption and crime, and shine a spotlight on human rights abuses. Perhaps for those very reasons, we are living in a time of great danger for journalists around the world – they are at greater risk than ever of being threatened, jailed or killed- the threats come from a variety of places — organized crime, by terrorists, narco-traffickers, even sometimes by governments themselves.”
