Bermuda's media and politicians need to be more honest with facts, according to Bermuda Sun editor Tom Vesey.

Speaking at the Hamilton Rotary weekly luncheon yesterday, Mr. Vesey told members that the media was often factually correct when covering a story.

However, he said: "...even a factually correct news item, in the newspaper or on t.v. or radio can be misleading...if it is out of context.'' Mr. Vesey likened the media's role on a small Island as Bermuda to a family sitting around the dinner table and talking.

Mr. Vesey said the standard of journalism in Bermuda was already high and that his suggestions for "improvements'' were for future betterment.

"The context is everything...I would like to see the media paying more attention to context, to the big picture, than we do,'' he said.

He also added: "I would like to see the media insisting more strongly that politicians and other public figures put their statements and claims, in fair and honest context too.'' The Bermuda Sun editor said too many news items were filled with opinions and not facts. And he said he would like to see more alternative viewpoints.

He said the media allowed one side to have its say too often "and then waits until the next day to get the other side's point of view, by which time, of course, the other side is all steamed up''.

He said the media should also be more honest with the language it used, adding that headlines were usually exaggerated to grab readers' attention.

Mr. Vesey warned words like "angrily attacking'' and "slamming'' were to be looked out for because they caused differences where they did not exist and inflamed differences where they did.

At the same time, he said, it did nothing to help the public understand what was going on.

Mr. Vesey also said people had to be more honest about their opinions, noting that "even close friends have differences of opinion''.

"So why can't we admit that the people and institutions we support have faults too,'' he said. "Not hide them or deny them or lie about them, or use them as the foundation for personal attacks, but speak about them as ordinary things that ordinary people have ...'' Mr. Vesey said a full understanding of the community and "an intelligent debate about how it can be made to operate at its best'', required this type of honesty. "I am frequently alarmed at how often our public figures make factual claims that are diametrically opposed to claims that other public figures are making,'' he added.

And he said: "... too often the media fails to find out where the truth really lies.'' Mr. Vesey said no newspaper nor television station on a small Island like Bermuda, had the time, money or manpower to sort through every detail, but it was important to try.

"And the more we succeed, the less public figures will be inclined to deceive, mislead or cut corners with the truth,'' he said.

He also pointed out that if Bermuda's media and public officials were to be compared to any other small community in the world, they would come out, "shining''.

"It's just that a few course adjustments are in order.'' NEWSPAPER JOURNALIST NJ