Dear Editor,
My consultant and advisory caps are on. A stray thought or two still surfaces. I share. Rocky ground for the reception it receives, maybe even an avalanche of abuse. It’s Guyana. Expected.
Within 30 minutes of the staggering Stabroek News announcement of the end of its singular presence in Guyana, a few words were on the way to Demerara Waves, reasonably well-set in the sprawling wilds of cyberspace. Since that Friday the 13th horror of a day in Guyana that shattered the world of Guyanese, there has been an unending stream of praise and thanks for the difference made in the lives of countless citizens. Of homage and accolades, for a job well-done. Of thoughtful expressions and grim visions of what is left in the media world of Guyana, how the remnant carries on, delivers relative to the gaping holes to be filled. Those are from the facts that sprung from the ground, as if on jack-in-the-box coils. The sentiments that encircled and projected the grieving of the precious little that was present, of the less than scarce of what is left. Separately, there was a conspicuous development amidst a combination of shock, a sense of loss, and general unhappiness that the blue masthead would be soon gone, and stabroeknews.com a phantom no longer walking among Guyanese. It is the tragedy of few, if any, voices from the ruling cohort of governors and their followers, having an earnest word to share about a paper that tried its best in a civil manner to keep the tribunes and their chamberlains honest, to set them on the straight path. If there cannot even be a smidgen of class, of honesty, of decency at a time like this, then when.
As a further aside, I flashback to the stalemated and dangerously edgy 2020 elections. I urge all Guyanese to recall and reflect on the bold, unswerving positions taken by SN for democracy, for what was right, and from which the current regime benefited immensely. So, it staggers that there cannot be one voice from within the deep recesses of that group of great Guyanese who possesses the force of character, the daring, to stay I mostly disagreed with SN. But recognize its flickers of grandeur, that it was worth its weight in rare earths to this country.
Now I return to the media fold pers se. There are others in the Guyana media landscape that stand as silos of journalistic vigour, of media voices listened to, that have a substantial following. Kaieteur News, Demerara Waves, Village Voice, Gordon Moseley’s News Source, and Travis Chases’ Nightly News, are the main contenders on that card. But as substantial and influential as they are in their own right, I regret that they haven’t attained the coveted status of a national endowment, or what is the equivalent of a national trust. Stabroek News has earned that spot, owns that right in media Guyana, throughout Guyana. Therefore, with the best of intentions, and notwithstanding the grinding, acrimonious, and unforgivable mindsets that makeup today’s Guyana at the apex of power, I have this humblest of suggestions to lay on the table of President Irfaan Ali.
In view of the flood of positive and ennobling expressions from Guyanese from all walks, it would be representative of thoughtful and profound leadership to do whatever is necessary to ensure that Stabroek News stays in business and serves the Guyanese people. The people need such a media presence. The government itself can only be made better by having such a spirited watchdog at its gates. The national leadership would only be incentivized to go another yard, be one iota better than before. If tens of billions can be arranged to salvage sugar, I submit that a fraction of the same could be squeezed out of somewhere for a viable SN that stays as a sustaining and inspiring presence. Millions could be allocated for foreign lobbyists, a hundred million or so may be the price for a lapse at the Wales gas-to-energy. So, why not Excellency Ali? Let there be that stroke of a pen that introduces a new dimension to the work of the media in Guyana.
I risk being slapped silly for being naïve, out of touch with realpolitik and how the real-world work. I’ll take the blows. What say thou, Mr. President?