Bermuda can ill afford to drift into further racial and political confrontation, to a point where invisible roadblocks are hindering progress in the daily lives of its citizens and could very well affect the peaceful and friendly image that we are still proud of.

At every turn there seems to be a widening gap, between one political camp and the other, even though both political groups openly declare their commitment to making Bermuda a better place. How many times over the years, have we heard those words echoing up and down the Island?

The stumbling block in trying to have a more positive approach, appears to be a combination of not being able to face up to yesterday's wrongs, along with a new age of political image protectionism, no matter the cost. The reason there is so much mistrust in the political arena is because it is almost natural for any political party in a democratic environment to promote an image of being strong and right, even when developments reveal a different picture. The highly acclaimed British comedy series "Yes Minister" touched on this aspect in one episode. A Government official, after seeing an announcement on television, said: "Don't forget the first rule of politics. Don't believe anything until it is officially denied."

While that remark generated a laugh, there is a grain of truth to it. A major concern with many Bermudians today is that serious issues in a changing Bermuda are not getting the attention they should by our elected officials, because Government is perceived to be obsessed with avoiding issues that question their ethical credibility.

A confident strong Government, should welcome and expect challenges from those on the other side. In fact the current PLP Government should be proud of the Opposition role they played for so long.

During that period many burning questions were fired across the floor at the then United Bermuda Party Government. Tough questions are a part of political life, since transparency, and accountability will always matter when it comes to the people's business.

This will never change in the arena of democracy, and when a Government is perceived to be avoiding issues that could possibly put them in a bad light, it creates more curiosity by many, over whether being forthright has been sidestepped in the interest of political image protection.

On the other hand the Opposition would be easily perceived as a wishy washy group, if they failed to press Government on issues of the day no matter how sensitive they are. During my spell as a working journalist, I had many conversations with leaders on both sides, and on practically every occasion, their concerns for improving life in Bermuda were quite similar. It was a different story when they clashed in the House on issues.

A burning concern for Bermudian journalists should be any attempt by authorities to hire an outside public relations agent to promote the image of Bermuda, that is, outside of the Department of Tourism. We have a free press here which is fully capable of handling any situation with a high standard of professionalism that we should be proud of. The role of the journalists should never be to a put a good spin on a story, simply to provide a favourable impression for a particular group. When that happens, that journalist becomes a public relations tool without credibility.

The role of the public relations person is different. They are hired and paid to represent their client in the best light possible. This they usually do, even when they have misgivings over certain issues. However image protection is the priority of any public relations person. However this can go wrong, as was seen recently when Scott McClellan, a former spokesman for US president George W. Bush, wrote a book bitterly critical of the US administration, and how they conducted the people's business. This after Bush had highly commended him for his work.

The public relations person will often say one thing, even if they are thinking something else. It is their job to protect. As long as the free press is operating in a democratic society, they must never yield to any pressure from any source in their task of relaying truth. As the then-Editor of the UK's Sunday Times, Harold Evans, told a class of journalism students during a session at Cardiff University: "Truth is your greatest ally.' To make certain we remembered that, he handed us all a yellow sheet of paper containing only that line.

It was his newspaper that played a major part in exposing a faulty drug which was causing babies to be born deformed. The drug was pulled from the market thanks to hard work by dedicated professional journalists. The free press in Bermuda, must remain the watch dog for events affecting life in our society. They must continue to do this in a professional manner. As long as they are guided by truth, our values along with our image will be protected. To put it simply, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, well...