PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis.
By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS
Tribune Staff Reporter
lmunnings@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said he respects the press and would not try to dictate what the media should do.
His comment yesterday came after he suggested the press should not print murders on the front pages, saying it harms the country. He claimed other newspapers in the region do not publish murders on their front pages despite numerous examples to the contrary.
His comment drew criticism from many, including Free National Movement leader Michael Pintard, who noted that Mr Davis was the chief defender of the Progressive Liberal Party’s decision to erect billboards around New Providence highlighting the murder rate under the last Ingraham administration.
“I’m not trying to censor the media,” Mr Davis told reporters yesterday after a walkabout in Nassau Village.
“I’m not a dictator. I believe all of you who are in the free press appreciate that I have the highest respect for the press and its involvement in the dissemination of information.”
“Any view that I may be trying to dictate to, you all were present, and I would have expected those who were present when I made that statement to be able to say the context in which I said it.
“I did say specifically, this is not to dictate to you what you ought to do, but I want you to consider how you go about reporting these things.
“I asked you to take a look at how it is done around the world and see whether or not it is as prominent a feature in a newspaper as it is in our newspapers.”
More like this story
- INSIGHT: Should the govt be ‘about hiding the truth’, Mr Davis?
- Pintard calls PM ‘dictator’ over press comment
- PM: KEEP MURDERS OFF THE FRONT PAGE – Davis says local press coverage of killings harming tourism
- EDITORIAL: ‘Are we about hiding the truth?’
- EDITORIAL: So, is crime affecting bookings, or not?
Comments
Sickened 9 months ago
All dictators and crime bosses start their demand by saying 'I'm not telling you what to do but...'.
realfreethinker 9 months ago
Yep
birdiestrachan 9 months ago
Mr Davis you are doing a great job many do not like that so they tell lies on you and make up stories But the Bible says if *God is for you who can be against you no one at all
birdiestrachan 9 months ago
Beautiful pictures in Nassau Village mr Davis God will not allow your foot to be moved he who keeps you will not slumber
TalRussell 9 months ago
@ComradeBirdie, but it does say --- He who keeps you will not slumber ---- For as long as a premiership's poilcemans', do watch-over the Tourists, both day and night, to come to The Colony of Out Islands.. --- Yes?
bahamianson 9 months ago
When the Prime Minister suggest something, it is a command. There is an implication. It is different than an employee suggesting something. He knew what he was doing.
birdiestrachan 9 months ago
The meaning of suggest does not change, they the media know better even if you do not he would have to change the law he is blessed And he knows there is importance in having a free press they wanted to throw rocks at him that is why they went overboard with crap
ExposedU2C 9 months ago
Sadly our PM is a man who respects the likes of Sebas Bastian, Snake and the others like them; a man who, like Perry Christie, is known to have included Nygard among his friends when Nygard had the ability to throw parties and money the way of the PLP hierarchy, both in the Bahamas and abroad.
carltonr61 8 months, 4 weeks ago
Sensationalism sells paper, not responsible conscientious reporting about Sunday Church preaching. But, we are in this ship together, so headlines of murders should not sell as The Bahamas' national identity to the whole world. Brave is correct but the press could be a politician's very worst headache and nightmare. Some focus of the press could separate the murders into categories of robberies, domestic drug related, or retaliation as our Commissioner is trying to explain to our young men, "The quickest way to die is to kill."
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