Journalism or Travesty?

Here we go again with the tomfoolery!

The BVI recorded its first murder of the year last evening and because this is a relatively crime free society where no more than one or two murders are recorded each year, this sent shock waves throughout the Territory.

The media has its role to play obviously in informing the public about incidents such as this, but how do we do this? Any journalist with an iota of common sense would know that in such a delicate situation, you report the bare minimum, until the news is confirmed by the police or persons directly related to the incident.

But no. The irresponsible journalism continues….for ratings? One can only assume.

A particular online news site brags about being the first to very often report on breaking news and about being the one to firstly and accurately bring certain happenings to light. This is very often looked at with disdain by the majority, but lauded by a few.

I know how the particular news site came into being and I can guarantee you that its co founder, no longer so affiliated, is totally ashamed of what has become of this dream. One hopefully learns from their mistakes.

So this news site quickly reports on this homicide and as promptly so, posts a close up photo of the victim, first so that someone said they could see the bullet holes, pulled that down when the out cry started and posted another with the victim laying on the ground with blood oozing from his body, then removed that when the public outrage became more vocal and up to my posting of this blog, still had a photo posted which reportedly shows a relative of the victim bawling uncontrollably!

I am not going to proffer any suggestions here because common sense would dictate what should obtain in such an instance. Of course the site should carry the story and because a picture helps to tell a story, yes there should be an accompanying photo.

But how about a wide shot of the scene, a graphic of a crime scene, a photo of the victim in a happier time even…

This incident really raised the ire of the community and many have called for a boycott of the offending news site by readers and advertisers. I could have called for the same for previous infractions or just plain bad journalism by this news site.

One can try to justify this now accepted error in judgement by the news site, by saying this raw journalism is practiced elsewhere around the world. But I want to submit that in such a small community as ours where everyone generally knows everyone, this should not be allowed to creep into our atmosphere.

As destiny would have it, the news site has apologized for posting the photo. But of course the images have already been etched in the minds of those who saw them, the damage has already been done.

Its competitor news site, as this other site usually does as well, jumped on this developing story and carried an extensive report on this faux pas, for whatever that’s worth! Yet another competitor emblazoned a headline suggesting that the offending site committed the unpardonable sin!

It amazes me how instead of working together as a team to develop the profession, uphold journalistic ethics, promote good moral standards and help to build and not destabilize the society, the media falls into these traps!

I understood the competitive nature of the media, but again, I call for professionalism at all times.

I think it is far time for the British Virgin Islands to introduce broadcasting standards and for the media to come together to establish a national association to govern the profession!

I do not believe this is a panacea, but it would go a long way to regulate this very important profession.

Troubling Journalism?

I continue to be troubled by the trend of my noble profession of journalism and wonder whether I ‘retired’ too early.

Not that I could change the world, but am just saying…

In my time, I had the pleasure of working with some of the Caribbean’s leading journalists, particularly during my stint at Radio Antilles and filing for the Caribbean News Agency, Associated Press and BBC Caribbean.

I believe these were some great years and I look back and cherish those moments, thankful that my career started then and not now.

Why do I say that?

There is the lack of respect by many for the journalist and the lack of ethics that some journalists portray that worries me.

This would not be the first time that a journalist has been threatened with imprisonment or worse, for in fact, the history books would record where journalists have been kidnapped and even put to death for doing their job.

This would also not be the first time that journalists have compromised ethics for a scoop.

In the international media, as it relates to the British Virgin Islands, there is that leak of information that can damage the financial services industry of this Territory. Financial services is one of the economic twin pillars of these islands and its loss or any part thereof can be debilitating.

What the international media has to gain by publishing this information is beyond me!

We also have a situation here in the Virgin Islands where an online news agency, in my view, has breached protocol by accepting highly confidential information leaked from the government (nothing may necessarily be wrong with that), but has published that information ahead of it being made public in the House of Assembly, all in the name of upstaging its media competitors.

This may be arguable from the point of view that ratings are important, the information would eventually be made public anyway and most of all that the information is factual and perhaps even warrants an investigation into the workings of government.

On the other hand, was it critically important to release the information days ahead of it being officially released? In fact, in this case, we see that although the Report was eventually laid on the Table of the House of Assembly, which then made it a public document, it was later withdrawn because of questions raised by the Opposition!

Of course, the credibility of the news agency is being called into question now. I am personally disappointed in this news agency, which I considered the more professional of the lot. Now I wonder.

I believe timing is important, ethics must be maintained and this dog eat dog cut throat mentality that pervades society must not continue to be this dominant, especially in a profession that everyone depends on to hold society accountable. You might say here that this is a paradox, but I insist that in this case, the news agency could have at least waited 5 minutes until after the Report was made public to publish its article. Write the article and hold it until such time!

Then internationally, another journalist will know her fate on Wednesday after she upheld her right, according to Journalism 101, that a journalist should never reveal her/his source. She was reporting on information she received that might have prevented a killing in the United States.

I continue to say – journalists must continue to be held accountable for their mandate to build up and not destabilize a country/community. In addition, journalists must be allowed to practice their profession without fear or favour.

To accomplish this, we (yes I said we) need to band together and recognize that we are on the same team trying to accomplish the same goals!

Or are we? Therein may lie the problem that we oftentimes create for ourselves.

Where do we draw the line colleagues, between ratings and sensationalism and good journalism!?

Photo Caption:

My colleagues at the Radio Antilles newsroom of 1989. Spot me? Don’t laugh! That was over 20 years ago, ok!