ONE seasoned journalist put it succinctly. "To be lectured on journalism by Obie Wilchcombe is like being lectured on human rights by Joe Stalin. It's hard to take him seriously." That may or may not be true, but there were points in his House of Assembly broadside that some newsmen are taking very seriously indeed - especially as Mr Wilchcombe claims to be a journalist of high integrity who went to jail to protect his sources.

They claim that not only were many of his remarks untrue, they were also intimidating and designed to divert attention away from the real issue, which is that ZNS is hiring party 'placemen' at taxpapers' expense, despite government pledges of a hiring freeze in the public service.

The first point to raise alarm was his reference to "large numbers of foreign editors" working on The Tribune, who he claimed had no understanding of Bahamian culture, no respect for the history of the Bahamas and cared very little about the people. Not only was this comment factually wrong - there are, in fact, only four foreign editors at The Tribune, three of whom have little or nothing to do with general news coverage, which was his principal gripe - it also betrayed anti-foreign bias, a trait which many find disquieting in a country that relies entirely on foreign money and foreign expertise.

According to critics, the minister was falling in line with the tired old rhetoric the PLP used in its early days as rabble-rousers. At that time, any scathing reference to foreigners was guaranteed to attract boorish cheers from the lumpen hordes. But it is felt the party should have moved on by now, and that people of Mr Wilchcombe's standing would be well-advised keep their anti-foreign prejudices to themselves.

Mr Wilchcombe said: "They [foreign editors] would write stories in the newspapers about Bahamians. Why doesn't someone do a story about that - the number of foreign editors at newspapers, without using Bahamians?"

Despite the tortuous syntax, INSIGHT understands what he meant and is eager to oblige. The Tribune has said repeatedly in the past that it would make no sense to hire foreign editors if there were local editors available. It is an extremely expensive and inconvenient process. Not only does it cost literally many thousands of dollars in air fares, hotel rooms and work permit fees to bring in foreigners, it is a laborious process, often taking many months, which diverts a lot of valuable management time.

No one but a fool would hire a foreigner if the right level of expertise was available locally. But, as the Nassau Guardian has now discovered, foreign help is vital if it is to have any chance of competing in a tough market.

The right level of ability - and reliability – simply isn't here in sufficient strength to staff entire newspapers at senior level.

Here's Mr Wilchcombe again: "The paper that I look to, that I've always thought would have the higher standard, was The Tribune. Always did. I've said in the other place and I say it in this place, each morning I read The Tribune. I go through it, everything in it.

"But when we have individuals who I believe are dictating the course, who don't understand the culture of the people, the history, I think we would end up with gossip tabloids."

The Tribune accepts the minister's compliments graciously, but media analysts wonder why, if he is so concerned with journalistic standards, he presides over a broadcasting station which is, quite blatantly and unashamedly, a government mouthpiece with no regard for journalistic integrity or balance.

One senior Bahamian media figure told INSIGHT: "The Bahamian people can never look to ZNS for a reliable report on anything. It is extremely selective in its news reporting and is subject to constant political interference. As a news outlet, it is a standing joke and everybody knows it. Most proper journalists who work there have to get out because they are constantly being harassed by meddlesome amateurs who hold positions of power."

In addition, he said, the current chairman, Calsey Johnson, although a broadcaster with ZNS for many years, left the field to seek a career in insurance, where he has spent much of his working life. "What we have at the moment is an insurance man in charge of the national broadcasting station," he said, laughing.

Mr Wilchcombe's reference to foreign editors "dictating" the course of the paper with allegedly no knowledge of Bahamian culture can only refer to one man, because the other three work in tightly-defined areas of specialisation and have nothing to do with local general news gathering at all. One handles business, another supervises sport and the third is engaged solely on newspaper design.

The alleged culprit, therefore, is the managing editor, John Marquis, who worked in the Bahamas for three years in the 1960s and covered the 1967 general election which brought the PLP to power. During his spell in Nassau he made many Bahamian friends who he still sees today, and has taken a keen interest in Bahamian history and culture.

"I believe Mr Wilchcombe was still in his diapers and chewing his rattle when Mr Marquis first covered politics here," said one observer.

Most worrying for Mr Wilchcombe's fellow journalists was the minister's cavalier approach to the truth when criticising coverage of the ZNS ‘pay delay’ story. The minister, they say, ignored one of the basic principles of good journalism. In his eagerness to pursue his anti-foreign agenda, he failed to check any of his ‘facts’, relying instead on the mindless tittle-tattle of marginalised and disaffected figures who, for whatever reason, have a grouse against The Tribune.

As the story about which he complained carried a by-line, Mr Wilchcombe knew perfectly well that it was written by a Bahamian journalist. He also knows that the news editor of The Tribune - Erica Wells - is a Bahamian. They were the two key figures involved in handling the story before it appeared. It passed through a more senior editor's hands only for checking.

Refusing to allow truth to stand in the way of his rant, Mr Wilchcombe then made the most disturbing statement of all. "What gives them [foreign editors] the right to attack or malign or seek to smear the names of any Bahamian? They just don't have that right and I would fight against that." Then he repeated: "They don't have that right."

In response to an opposition interjection, he implied that only Bahamians should be allowed to criticize Bahamians.

Leaving aside the fact that no foreign editor attacked or maligned anyone during the course of the ZNS story, because they were not involved in writing it, his statement is unnerving because it goes right to the root of the whole issue of freedom in a democratic society.

As media figures noted with alarm, Mr Wilchcombe was actually challenging the right to free expression. He was saying, in effect, if you are foreign you have no right to free speech in the Bahamas. It is the kind of sentiment Robert Mugabe would embrace with enthusiasm.

ZNS employees were most perturbed by two other elements of Mr Wilchcombe's speech. One was his failure to address their main area of concern – the reported hiring of PLP ‘placemen’ in an organization that is already considered overstaffed - and his claim that no comment was sought from himself or ZNS executives.

He accused newspaper reporters of making no attempt to contact himself, Mr Johnson or ZNS general manager Anthony Foster for a response in relation to the 'pay delay' story. Yet he must have known, had his secretary passed on messages, that this was simply not true.

During that Friday, The Tribune's reporter, Darnell Dorsette - noted for her thoroughness and determination - tried without success to contact all three men, leaving messages with their secretaries, and asking them to return her calls. None of them did. This begs the question: Where were these supposedly high-powered executives on a Friday afternoon? Why were none of them available to answer highly pertinent questions about their corporation at a time when their own staff were deeply worried about not being able to pay their bills?

Why weren't they - like the foreign editors Mr Wilchcombe was so eager to condemn - behind their desks getting on with the business of the day? A journalist used to getting the Friday afternoon brush-off from the secretaries of public service executives said: "I think I know where they were - they had just ‘stepped out to lunch’. All these guys in fancy government positions ‘step out to lunch’ on Friday afternoons. I've called senior government officials as late as 4.45pm on Fridays and been told they'd ‘stepped out to lunch’."

Meanwhile, Mr Marquis said: "What Mr Wilchcombe needs to realise is that the foreign editors he condemns so readily bring a high level of commitment, ability and objectivity to the job. None of the foreigners working at The Tribune has any political position or bias. They do not belong to the PLP or FNM and have absolutely no interest in either party. This enables them to work free of political influence, which is the way it should be.

"ZNS, on the other hand, is a political mouthpiece, nothing more, which cannot be relied upon to give the Bahamian people the service they require and deserve. This is because it is perpetually subject to political influence.

"It's because of this bias that the Bahamian people - including Mr Wilchcombe, it seems - turn first to The Tribune every day to find out what's really happening in the Bahamas. Our duty as editors is to ensure the Bahamian public is properly informed. Our readers can rely on us.

"When I was here in the 1960s, I condemned the toadies and tailwaggers, the would-be and wannabe journalists who were polluting the democratic process by kow-towing to politicians. Thirty-five years on, my position has not changed.

"Instead of decrying foreign editors, Mr Wilchcombe should show the good sense to appreciate their high level of expertise and the service they render to the Bahamian people every day. You never know, by studying their work he might learn something."
INSIGHT, The Tribune (published Monday, June 23rd, 2003)