Senator Philip Galanis has called on members of the Bahamas media to be fair and balanced in their reporting, saying the role of the media is to criticize and keep people in check, while telling the whole story.
The most recent comments by the PLP Senator came in an interview with The Tribune after he was questioned about his most recent attacks on media tactics and practices.
In an open letter to the Editor of The Tribune last week, Senator Galanis challenged journalists to “shoulder” their responsibilities as “nation builders and not just nation criticisers.”
“What the public needs,” said the senator, “is an objective arbiter who can inform persons on both sides of the political divide and in a manner that is going to inform, educate, and elaborate on the issues that are being discussed.”
“Why do people believe that the only way to build a nation is to constantly knock those who are trying their best?” questioned Senator Galanis.
However, a noted American professor of Journalism and Mass Communication said that the role of a journalist is not nation building.
According to Kent State Professor, Karl Idsvoog, “a journalist needs to report fairly, accurately, and thoroughly on the issues facing the community, the state, and the country.”
“The journalist,” said Mr Idsvoog, “needs to be a watchdog, to ask tough questions, and to hold the powerful accountable.”
Upon hearing these comments, Senator Galanis agreed saying, “I don’t take that view of believing that every time a reporter or journalist criticises the government that we ought to shoot the messenger because of the message.”
He continued by saying that he is guided by the principles of French philosopher Voltaire who said: “I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
However, the senator did little defending of John Marquis’ rights to free speech when he wrote a letter of criticism, calling Mr Marquis’ May 29th “Insight” article “destructive and ill-informed.”
In a letter entitled “John Marquis has no respect for Bahamians or The Bahamas,” Senator Galanis said that Mr Marquis’ article “illustrates the profound damage that can be done to a nation and its people by badly intentioned foreigners whose viewpoint are irreparably warped by their own agendas and prejudices.”
Acknowledging that the piece was an opinion piece, the senator took exception to Mr Marquis’ supposed “bitter and malicious” words which alluded to “an educational system that is practically defunct,” and “a massive block of high unemployable under-achievers.”
“When you are a guest in this country, you need to be careful, in my opinion, the language you use to describe the people,” Senator Galanis said.
When asked if he would have been as appalled if a Bahamian had written the same thing, Senator Galanis said that a Bahamian would not have used the language, the tone, and tenor to describe the way he saw things.
“Don’t mistake what I am saying,” said Senator Galanis, “there is some truth to what he is saying. I am not saying that some of what he is saying is not truthful, what I am saying is when you are being truthful, be completely truthful, tell the whole story, and he is not telling the whole story.”
The senator said that he agrees with some of Mr Marquis’s statements, but disagrees with the manner in which he says it. As an example, he said he did not think that the Bahamian educational system was “practically defunct” as described by Mr Marquis. Rather Mr Galanis would have softened it by saying that the educational system was “extremely challenged.”
And whereas the senator found Mr Marquis’ comments that “without foreigners, the Bahamas would implode in short order, leaving the native population to catch conch and collect coconuts” to be particularly offensive, after considering life in many of the outlying family islands. Senator Galanis agreed that “we would have a different economy and a different reality if we didn’t have a reliance on foreigners …. but that is a hypothetical if.
“There is no question that we need the foreign interplay in our economy,” Mr Galanis said, “but what I take exception to is the tone and tenor of Marquis’ writing, the way in which he expresses them.”
Taking Mr Galanis’ statements into account, Professor Idsvoog says that “rather than address the question or issue (at hand), the politician attacks the reporter.
“When that happens, the reporter needs to (stay) focused on the issue.”
By MARK HUMES, Tribune
