The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

WHILE emphasising the important role the press plays in well-functioning democracies, Free National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis offered a blizzard of criticism of the national media during a speech at the Bahamas Press Club’s monthly meeting last night.

“It is understandable, but sometimes all too easy a temptation, for journalists to cover the drama of politics at the expense of covering issues of policy,” Dr Minnis said. “This is a worldwide reality. Journalists often get caught up in a ‘he say, she say,’ back and forth. The drama of politics and government can be interesting. But there is much more to public affairs.

“There is a tendency, sometimes a laziness, on the part of some reporters, to ignore issues of policy because it requires more work and in-depth research to report on such issues. I applaud those of you who go the extra mile in reporting the news of the day, and offering context and background. I find that the business sections of the two leading dailies often have more in-depth reporting than their front pages. I understand that many media establishments are understaffed. Still, you have an obligation to be as diligent as possible in your reporting.”

Dr Minnis spoke out against what he said is an “increasing tendency among some reporters and editors in The Bahamas to engage in extended commentary and opinion in the print and broadcast media”.

He contrasted this with print publications of top US newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post.

“There is a reason that editorials typically do not have bylines, as editorials are the opinion of a journal,” he said. “But when editors or reporters write extended commentary under their byline this is something very different. They become columnists as well as editors and reporters, blurring the line between these two roles. It is about the opinion of these individuals and not that of the journal for which they are writing. This raises questions about the objectivity and credibility of the reporters and editors who engage in such commentary. I believe that an ethical standard of journalism is breached in this regard.”

Dr Minnis also lamented that parts of his speech delivered last week during the Torchbearers Youth Association convention were not covered more extensively by the press.

He noted, for instance, that the FNM is considering creating magnet schools in the areas of STEM education, culture, arts, business, entrepreneurship and tourism.

His party’s youth development and social intervention strategies may involve the establishment of a Youth Development Centre and he argued that money used to pay for carnival should be redirected to a youth entrepreneur programme.

“Despite the ideas in my Torchbearers speech, I believe that it was under reported in terms of the significant policy directions offered,” he said.