Blatent bias evident

October 31, 2002

Dear Sir,

The Progressive Labour Party and its supporters jump up and down so much about anti-PLP bias in the media that it is easy to believe that's the only kind there is.

It's not, as seasoned Press watchers know.

Anti-UBP coverage was plentiful prior to 1998, and two incidents during the last couple of weeks confirm that it is still alive and well.

Pam Gordon made a statement in the House of Assembly during recent debate on the Boundaries Commission Report which seemed to put her at odds with her own Party.

The original House coverage, included in Saturday's and Monday's editions, was written by your reporter Stephen Breen, and mentioned Ms Gordon's stand, giving her space roughly proportional to the space given to other speakers.

But then, during the next few days, we were treated to four further, substantial stories, all focusing attention on Miss Gordon's stand and all written by Ayo Johnson.

One detailed the soul-searching she had done before she made the speech, one carried the Premier's praise for her stand, one contained every word Miss Gordon uttered in the House that day, presumably taken from the Hansard, and another suggested that Miss Gordon took the stand she did out of principle.

In other circumstances, this could be characterised simply as a good story given very full coverage.

But in these particular circumstances, it had much more of the character of your reporter trying to rub the UBP's nose in it.

Do you, does Mr Johnson, does the Premier, does anybody understand what Miss Gordon's point was?

Does Miss Gordon herself understand what her point was?

If so, she certainly wasn't able to explain it very well.

Here's the relevant portion of her speech:

"Mr. Speaker, I am very respectful of the Leader of the Opposition.

"I am respectful of my colleagues but I want to make it clear that unless, and until, I can get an indication from the United Kingdom Government of what is their next step, I could not comfortably in all my own morality support a call for a constitutional conference or a referendum at this time.

"I could not do that...

"...where we go from here is fully dependent on the United Kingdom Government and they have told us nothing...

"And, unfortunately I have to say that some of the issues that have been raised are issues for this Honourable House not for a constitutional conference and so realistically I would like, if nothing goes back to the United Kingdom, I would like one particular thing to go forward and that is you tell the people of Bermuda what you intending to do, for us, to us before we can go and make a proper, informed decision before we can take it out to the people of the Country and have them understand exactly where we go from here..."

What in the world does that mean?

She knows we are what was once described as a colony.

She was once the Premier of the Country, so presumably she knows who is responsible for what and what the procedure for changing the Constitution is, or even for taking the Country to independence, for that matter.

She sounds aggrieved.

But over what?

Over Britain having the final say?

Give us a break, that's no deep dark surprise to anyone.

The truth of the matter is that she had no point at all.

It was a pose, a sort of political swan-song that was intended to say to the public:

"Don't remember me as a traitor to my father's principles.

"I'm not the kind of person who swallows the UBP's doctrine hook, line and sinker, regardless of how it looks from my history.

"I'm a rebel, a very attractive political figure who played a substantial part in the struggle for my Bermudian brothers and sisters.

"I Did It My Way.

"Remember me like that."

Mr Johnson was oblivious to all that, however.

He was blinded by his delight at being able to tell us, over and over and over and over again, that there was a rift in the UBP.

Shame on him.

Then last night, Gary Moreno of ZBM-News opened his story on Grant Gibbons' speech at St. Paul's AME Centennial Hall by noting that the audience seemed to be made up largely of UBP members.

Grant Gibbons was preaching to the converted, he trumpeted.

Who on earth did he expect to find in the audience at a UBP rally?

PLP supporters?

Striking teachers?

Martians?

Mr Moreno's little insight was nothing more than a desire to find something . anything . to criticise about a UBP event.

Expressing that criticism in his coverage of the news is contrary to the principles of his profession.

Shame on him, too.

If I spot further cases of reporters showing their bias, Mr. Editor, I will report them to you, no matter who the bias is for or against.