Bermuda's rival news organisations were united in their frustration yesterday over having to deal with a Government determined to keep them in the dark.

VSB news director Bryan Darby drew applause from the audience at a Chamber of Commerce media seminar after he urged them to pressure Government into ending its media phobia.

Mr. Darby said: "We are having enormous problems with the Government in terms of media coverage.

"We didn't ask for this war. It was brought very much to our doorsteps.

"It's been two years of complete hell. I have never in my entire career encountered anything quite like it and I still don't see a solution in sight but we have to find a solution because it is the public who is suffering.

"We have got to get to grips with it because we all have a responsibility, including the Government, to inform the public. It's a nightmare.'' ZBM reporter Jim McKey said there were a few Ministers who were very co-operative.

But he added: "The past four Premiers I have dealt with as a journalist would always, always return a phone call.

"The current Premier you can't get through to anyway, and despite getting through to various official Government channels, very, very seldom, if at all, does she ever get back to answer even the simplest of questions that the public has a right to know.'' Royal Gazette Editor Bill Zuill said his reporters would keep plugging away despite the difficult odds.

He said: "We have to keep putting the calls in and reporting fairly.

"Fairly frequently, people hold stories for a day or so in order to give the Minister of the Cabinet office the chance to respond.'' Mr. McKey cited the example of the collapse of the Morgan's Island development, which was announced in a brief statement on the eve of Cup Match last year.

He said Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister then disappeared giving the Opposition a field day for four days because there was no one from Government to respond.

The panel agreed that Government Information Services, who handle media inquiries, was doing a good job in very trying circumstances.

Mr. Zuill said: "They may well be as frustrated as anyone with it.'' He also said the perception that the media, The Royal Gazette in particular, was politically biased in favour of the United Bermuda Party (UBP) was unjust.

He said: "There's a fair amount of selective memory going on.

"There is the notion that the media was somehow out there supporting the UBP everyday for the previous 30 years but the record doesn't hold that up at all.

"I know there are ex-Government Ministers who have no great love of The Royal Gazette . There's a basic misunderstanding of what our job is.

"It's not to boost the Government or the business community or anyone else.

It's to report the news, warts and all.

"There's this idea that we should be backing the new Government just because it's a new Government, but that's not what we do.'' Mr. Zuill said papers had a duty to report fairly, accurately and in a readable manner.

But he added: "Accuracy, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.

Sometimes journalists make mistakes but they correct them as well.

"The other point is that people will often say one thing to a journalist, have it accurately reported and then decide they don't like what they see in the paper.

"An American baseball player once said of the Press: `They reported what I said, not what I meant.' We are not mind readers, nor should the media serve its sources. It has a responsibility to only one person. The reader.'' Mr. Zuill said the media acts as a watchdog. "The journalist's job is not to write a precis of the event -- or to retype your press release -- but to make a judgment on what was new and important and to write about that.

"The journalist's job is to determine what is most important for the whole of the public, a rather demanding task which is sometimes more of an art than a science.'' On the issue of reporting good news as well as bad news, Mr. Zuill stressed that his paper did both.

But he said: "Recently, Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister, when asked if Government would consider giving companies which had good records of diverse hiring and promotions breaks on their taxes, he said no, why would he reward a company for not being racist? "It is not a watchdog's function to only tell the good news.

"The fact that bridges work, trash is collected and the post is delivered in time is not news. To paraphrase Mr. Lister, why should people receive extra rewards for doing their jobs? "It is when they are not doing their jobs that they need to be identified and the problem fixed and that is our job.'' Meet the Press: Royal Gazette Editor Bill Zuill addresses a Chamber of Commerce seminar on the role and responsibility of the media at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess yesterday. Also pictured (left to right) are Bermuda Sun publisher Randy French, ZBM reporter Jim McKey and VSB news director Bryan Darby.

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