MANY?A?CYNIC HAS?SAID that it is the politician’s task to rattle off rhetoric – relentlessly; to be evasive; to indulge in circumlocution or prevarication – or both; to fill up the time he speaks with irrelevant philosophy.
We make no such charges against Acting Prime Minister Ronald Jones of his address to the Barbados Advocate while touring that newspaper on Friday.
We will not deny Mr Jones’ speech was of impressive effect – and we certainly would wish it wasn’t lacking sincerity – but we wonder about its meaningfulness.
Mr Jones declared he supported a free Press and had every respect for journalism, and swore that his Government had no intentions of muzzling the media.
His remarks came upon publisher Anthony Bryan’s revelation that the main reason his paper supported the Government was “due to the fact it is on the right track”.
Mr Bryan also said his publication, which “is all about the truth”, was “based on reliable sources, and the Government should be considered a reliable source”.
As simple as the managing director’s statement is, as bafflingly complex it becomes.
Governments everywhere are notorious for not telling the full truth. Often it is “in the people’s interest”, “for the people’s good”, “that the people wouldn’t panic”, “for security purposes”.
It is often left to the alert Press to ferret out the real reasons, the truth – that Mr Bryan believes he gets from Government operatives on a silver platter.
On Press Freedom Day (May 3), the director general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, appealed to governments everywhere to uphold their commitment to promoting freedom of expression and freedom of the Press, the foundations of a democratic society.
Promoting such is not via handing out sanitized information. It can only be by Government ministers making themselves readily available to answer the concerns of the public, as represented by the Press.
Despite Mr Jones’ publicly stated commitment, some of his colleagues are not unknown to see the Press as the enemy – at best, a detractor.
Irina Bokova reminds us that an assault on the media is equally one on the right of citizens to be informed.
There can be no half-hearted attempt in respecting the right to free expression – no matter which division of the fourth estate may have its own variant understanding of the truth and reliable sources.
The freedom to speak and to write, without compromise, are essential preconditions for a vibrant democracy and the best of governance.
