One of the main objectives of an impartial media is to have a critical eye on any government elected to serve the interest of its people; therefore, any media entity should be unbiased and fair when informing its public.
An opinion piece written by Tribune news editor Paco Nunez questioned the ability of the Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas (BCB) to be truly objective in its dissemination of information.
The media is supposed to be a crucial counterweight to power, Mr Nunez’s article read, yet, the entity, which is the most visible example of the discipline for most Bahamians is little more than a deferential propaganda tool; a lapdog of those in power.
According to the statute laws of the Bahamas that regulates broadcasting, “it shall be the duty of the corporation (Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas) to maintain broadcasting and television services as a means of information, education and entertainment and to develop the services to the best advantage and interest of the Bahamas subject to such directions as the Minister may from time to time lay down.”
The section of the statute law that outlines the powers of the minister to prohibit broadcasting of particular matter says:
“The Minister may if he considers it to be in the public interest to do so from time to time by notice in writing require the corporation to refrain at any specified time or at all times from broadcasting or televising any matter or matter of any class specified in such notice; and the Minister may at any time or times revoke any such notice.”
Speaking with The Tribune yesterday, Jerome Sawyer, former broadcast journalist with the Broadcasting Corporation (BCB) suggested that the best thing for the government to do would be to liberate itself from the corporation.
“The best thing that any government can do is to free itself of ZNS. Not only is it a burden in terms of money the government has to pay out in terms of salaries, but it is also a burden on the people of the Bahamas who are asking for better programming,” he said.
The demise of the station, he said, came about with the introduction of cable television.
“When so many people have access to news and programming of an international level and when you compare that to what is shown locally, the station really fails to measure up and I think it has unearthed a lot of the inadequacies that the station has.
“If the government were to really privatise the station it would then be mandated to raise the level of production, it would be mandated to give the people what they want. “It’s also unfortunately been used as a political prostitute; past governments have used it for their own benefit and to send out their own messages which go out veiled as government information, which in most instances is political propaganda.”
According Mr Sawyer, many budding journalists who have worked at the BCB have not been able to reach their full potential or talent because of the political influence and fear of political retribution.
He said during his time he had been punished severely for using the term “walking in the wilderness” to describe his ostracism by persons within the corporation. “There are people within the business who take attacks on the government personally,” he said.
Within the corporation, he continued, there is an unwritten policy condemning criticism of the Bahamas’ government and its ministers. It is enforced constantly, he said. “Reporters are constantly reminded.”
“Most journalists who leave there and continue in the business will tell you that the first thing they are faced with is a credibility issues,” he said. “The press in any democratic society has a role to play, it is a watchdog of the government. It’s almost criminal to have a station with such incredible reach to continue to censor information.
“It’s almost ludicrous to think that the public will listen to what you’re saying and take it to be the truth when all around there is so much contradictory information – it pains me sometimes to see what they are doing or what they are not doing.”
Opposition parties have not been immune to what then PLP Senator Fred Mitchell called “political interference in ZNS.”
In 1997 Mr Mitchell was considering his options to sue ZNS over the censorship of a remark he had made during a convention, but according to the laws governing broadcasting, the Minister in charge of the BCB may “control the character of any and all programmes broadcast or televised by the Corporation or any other person.”
“As a parliamentary democracy, the Bahamas is also part of a tradition of liberalism founded on an inherent distrust of those who seek power and influence and which views public servants as just that,” said Mr Nunez’s article.
In a September 2005 Tribune article Deputy Manager for news at the BCB suggested that ZNS cannot act in the best interest of the public as long as it is operated by government.
Mr Sawyer was not certain of a Turning Point in the BCB’s future. “What you are forced to do,” he said, “is put aside what you have learned about balance and the fundamentals of news gathering and sometimes are even asked to compromise your integrity – those who go against the grain are punished.”
By CHESTER ROBARDS, The Tribune
