Is the press out to destroy Lara?

Desmond Allen

Reader Janice Rose-Brown wrote me a three-page letter fuming about the treatment she said was being meted out to West Indies cricketer, Brian Lara by the media. It's an interesting letter but I don't have the space to run all of it. Janice, have you forgotten already so soon my injunction: "words don't bleed, cut them?" Anyhow, here are some excerpts of her 'dissertation'.

"...It would seem that our journalists perch each evening on the edge of their seats waiting for something negative and bad to happen (concerning Lara)... He (the cricketer) is clearly not doing enough to destroy himself. He needs great help. I listened to Simon Crosskill's sports programme on May 13. He read two reports, one an interview in which Lara admitted that he is still seeking to reclaim his passion for international cricket but stated his intention to improve as a person and a cricketer. No comment. That's dull. Was it an actual quote? Whatever ­ who cares. "The next report ­ that Lara is reported to have been offered and accepted three times his previous salary to go on tour. Now this unchecked report is news. This item is repeated three times in the programme and, as usual, conclusion is drawn ­ he definitely needs to improve as a person, it is said, since he has accepted three times his previously offered salary. Of course, by the next day, the WICB and the WI Players Association are strongly denying the report. Would it have been so hard to seek a response before repeating over and over an unconfirmed report? No, that could have caused some listeners to change the channel. I suspect these journalists will never believe the denial. Years to come it will be one of the many references about the ex-captain.

"In another case, a representative of a Trinidadian newspaper is sent to Lara's mother's house to check this illness story. Another journalist reports this to Joseph Cox and Patrick Bailey (of KLAS-FM's First Edition). She seems to be in good enough health ­ this must be a medical consultant/journalist! Of course, anyone of us can make a judgement on what we see, but how far can we assume it is right? Based on this, Lara is accused of using his mother as a negotiating tool. Further, based on this, Lara's mother is called 'feisty' by Mr. Bailey...

"I would like to urge the media to expose and criticise based on information that is checked and to reserve conclusions and character assassination until the information can be confirmed. In doing so, the media can help to reduce the divisiveness in our society, in our region...I would like to urge the media to report more on the positives in our society. Has Lara ever done anything good?"

De-polarisation
of Jamaica

Speaking of divisiveness in our society, I thank the NDM's Wayne Chen for sending me a copy of an address he made May 13 to the annual banquet of the Association of Surgeons, on "Consensus: the opportunity for Jamaica". It is a subject close to the heart of the Spike. Chen outlined some areas that we could agree on easily to take out of the arena of partisan politics. My view, as you know, is that only the media can successfully promote such a campaign.

Neville Reid passes on

I have Lloyd B. Smith and the Western Mirror to thank for letting us know that journalist and teacher Neville Reid has passed on. The former 'Cornwallian' worked at The Gleaner, the then JBC and the Twin City Sun at various times, and he wrote a column for The Mirror. May his soul rest in peace and I know you want me on your behalf to express condolences to his loved ones.

Spike readers' comments

Dear Spike, I generally like Ian Boxill's column in The Gleaner for their intelligence and clear-eyed focus on issues of the day. Therefore, I was more than a little surprised to see, in his offering of May 16, the following: "share brutality" (twice) and "free reign". I am sure he did not mean to suggest, in the first instance, that people should share the brutality they witness around them, neither do I think he was referring to King Juan Carlos' time on the throne since the end of the Franco dictatorship in Spain. No, I think the explanation is that the printer's Gremlin was annoyed with Professor Boxill for his run of error-free articles, and out of sheer malice decided to take advantage of his free rein to annoy, punish or embarrass our academic friend!

­ Keeble McFarlane, journalist, Ontario, Canada keeble.mack@sympatico.ca.

Hi Desmond, I am a little concerned about the choice of guests that talk-show hosts invite onto their programmes. I get the feeling that some of the producers have an agenda and may be biased. I refer to the issue of the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Street People Inquiry. The only person I recall being interviewed for the Carib Court is the Attorney-General who obviously speaks for the Government. There is usually a battery of persons (mostly attorneys) who oppose the proposal for the Court. Isn't there one practising attorney in Jamaica who is pro-Caribbean Court of Justice? In the case of the Street People, it may be useful to recall who were the persons most often heard being interviewed by the talk show hosts and whom they represented.

­ Cherton DaCosta,journalist,cdac@cwjamaica.com

Dear Desmond, did you hear RJR news this morning (May 16) on the Street People Inquiry? I thought I heard them say that the records show that the rope was bought and used (to tie the street people) that day. What it suggested was impossible as the round-up started at 1 a.m. the following morning. Today's Gleaner had the story correct.

­Dawn Williams, dawill_2@hotmail.com.

Hi Spike, congrats again on your novel and useful column. The page two lead story of The Gleaner on May 8 relates the grief permeating the funeral service "of the three women slain on Good Friday". I grieve with the relatives and share their anguish too. While this was indeed a sad occasion, it is also sad that the reporter did not see it fit to even mention the service for the other two victims of the said massacre ­ an elderly couple. In fact, many of the media reports on this incident suggest that there were three female victims. There were actually four.

It should be noted that the reported funeral service got underway just two hours before the service for the other victims ­ the former being in Portmore and the latter in Spanish Town ­ only 15 minutes drive away. Was it asking too much to at least capture a little information on the Spanish Town event? There wasn't an iota mentioned about this service nor any indication to the readers as to when the burial took place. While the reporting of any of these events certainly could not make wrongs right, it could have at least brought some small measure of consolation to the relatives of the other victims to see that someone had also captured their grief, for indeed they were grieving too...Idon't want to sound silly, but are some tears more important than others? I'm sad

­ Edward Morris, emorris@jpsco.com.

Send your spikeables to spike@jol.com.jm; desal@cwjamaica.com or fax to 926-0295

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