An FNM “policy statement on transforming ZNS and public broadcasting,” released Monday, accused the Christie administration of smashing the clock of progress at ZNS, and vowed to “end political interference in and manipulation of the public broadcasting network.”
But Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe, who is also responsible for broadcasting, responded with an indictment of the FNMﾒs record on ZNS, labeling the policy statement as “nonsense,” “ridiculous” and “juvenile,” and nothing more than “an intimidation tactic.”
“The FNM is uniquely unqualified to talk about freedom of speech, unqualified to talk about the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas and certainly unqualified to talk about any future in the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas,” Mr. Wilchcombe charged.
“Talk about the bill they left for $14 million, talk about all the things they did to people, talk about the victimization ﾖ talk about that! Thatﾒs what they ought to be talking about,” he said.
“Addressing why they victimized people; addressing why they put someone at ZNS who knew nothing about broadcasting; addressing what he meant by (saying) he wanted to dismantle the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas.”
“Donﾒt come now trying to play this game because youﾒre trying to win votes ﾖ tell us about the audit that (the FNM) did before the ﾒ92 elections that had (the FNM) firing more than 100 employees. Talk about that.”
According to the FNM, “news (at ZNS) is carefully edited to promote the interests of the PLP and coverage of the opposition is demonstrably biased,” but at the new ZNS, under a second FNM administration, “news will be freed from political interference and quality investigative reporting will be encouraged.”
Deputy General Manager for News at ZNS Carlton Smith declined to comment on the FNM statement that news at ZNS is edited to promote the interests of the PLP or the statement that coverage of the opposition is demonstrably biased.
Mr. Wilchcombe, however, showed no such restraint.
“We donﾒt tell ZNS what to do,” he said. “Weﾒve changed that a long time ago. In fact, Mr. Ingraham might remember, it was me who changed the policy at ZNS and allowed for opposition coverage. I did that.”
Mr. Wilchcombe gave a litany of names of former personnel at ZNS whom he said the Ingraham administration victimized, including Paulette Zonicle (now a PLP senator), Ed Bethel (now the Bahamas High Commissioner in New York), Michelle Malcolm, Bill Bain and Diana Swan.
“They were victimized by the FNM ﾖ they were put in places where they could not even use their talents because of the insecurity of men and women who sit in the FNM,” Mr. Wilchcombe charged.
“So this juvenile argument they present today is absolutely ridiculous. Nobody edits ZNS news. We never did, and we never will.”
In the statement, the FNM claimed that its “progressive policies smashed a sad legacy of using ZNS as a propaganda machine to destroy political opponents,” among other things.
“The freeing of the airwaves (by introducing private broadcasting) has resulted in greater freedom of expressionﾅand has added a new andﾅirreversible dimension to Bahamian national debate,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, there are some who will still try to turn back the clock, so under this PLP government, ZNS has returned to some of its bad old ways.”
Mr. Wilchcombe did salute the FNM for allowing for private broadcasting.
“I thought it was a wonderful move,” he said. “But donﾒt talk about ZNS. No prime minister has been on the air more than Hubert Ingraham has. None. Perry Christie doesnﾒt use ZNS as the former prime minister did.”
Among those key government officials the FNM mentioned as having lashed out at the press is Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, whom the FNM painted as “chief propagandist at ZNS during its heyday of bias, manipulation, exclusion and victimization.”
“We do not recall him talking about press responsibility when he was the press, and we have not heard his voice among the chorus calling for greater fairness and integrity at ZNS today,” the statement said.
The opposition also accused Mr. Wilchcombe ﾖ supposedly “another former ZNS propagandist” ﾖ of “pandering” to the press, and dismissed what the party sees as “flowery statements regarding press freedom.”
“While he panders to the press with his words, he has not acted to restore the culture of balance at ZNS. Increasingly, his actions and words are running off in different directions,” the statement said.
However, Mr. Wilchcombe told the Journal that the FNMﾒs statement is playing on the media.
“If the media wanted to go back over the 10 years of the FNM administration certainly they would find that (the FNM) corrupted ZNS, they would find the mismanagement, they would find the fact that ZNS employeesﾒ National Insurance was not being paid, they would find that a number of the vendors from abroad were not being paid, they would find a net bill of $14 million,” he said.
“And then they would find absolute victimization all over ZNS. It might be the crazy season, but in this season we are not going to sit and listen to nonsense.”
Through the statement, the FNM attempted to outline its intentions to overhaul ZNS should the party win the next general election. The most fundamental shift at ZNS, should the FNM win, is that ZNS will become “a commercial-free public broadcasting network, as will Radio Bahamas.”
“We believe there are national interests which require limited government involvement in various media in an archipelago such as ours,” the FNM statement said.
“Among these interests are the preservation and promotion of Bahamian heritage and culture; national unity; social development; education, public health and national security, such as in times of national disaster.”
These claims jibe with the intentions outlined in the FNMﾒs “Manifesto II” ﾖ circulated after the Ingraham administration had been in power for five years and was seeking another term in office in 1997.
The FNM pledged to “transform the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas into a non-commercial public information facility,” to “ensure the production and broadcast of locally-oriented programmes suitable for family viewing.”
In addition, the basic capabilities of the station came under heavy fire from the official opposition in a “policy statement” released by the FNM early Monday.
“With dramatic improvements in broadcast technology, ZNS productions should be of much higher quality. Instead, the corporation seems to have regressed at the production and technical levels,” the statement said.
“Basic features such as picture and sound quality, lighting (and) graphics all require dramatic improvement.”
The FNM points to PBS in the United States and BBC in the United Kingdom as examples of what ZNS would be like, should the opposition emerge from next yearﾒs general elections victorious.
The new ZNS would focus on full-length documentaries, educational features, current affairs and special events programming to draw viewership.
“Because content is at the heart of all mass media, the new ZNS will become a top-rate producer of local programming, using the gifts of Bahamian writers, directors, artisans, musicians, producers and technicians,” the statement said.
“We cannot stop trashy television from outside the country, but we can give our young people an alternative that will remind them of who and what we are and what we should become.”
The FNM also intends to pursue a funding model that would eventually allow the government to reduce and then remove its subsidy of ZNS.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
