COVER STORY

Pressing Matters
"After the resignation of senior editors of the nation's largest circulating newspaper, Trinidad debates whether the first loyalty of the press is to shareholders or to the public."

by Peter Neptune and Peter Richards, Port of Spain- Trinidad

It started with the Prime Minister's mild irritation at the type of news reports being published in the Trinidad Guardian... His irritation and protests grew, until, by the time the dust had settled, nearly the whole senior editorial and management staff of that daily newspaper had resigned.

Prime Minister Basdeo Panday seemed to have led a successful campaign against the editorial policy of the newspaper. But the outcome has gone far beyond his initial expectations. Nevertheless, as the story unfolded, the Prime Minister took a backseat and the newspaper's Board became prominent, as it continually tried to influence editorial policy. Meanwhile, Trinidad's media fiasco kept building, as it attracted reactions from across the Caribbean, and even further afield, via the internet.

After privately criticising the Guardian's Editorial Policy since coming into Government in November, 1995, Prime Minister Basdeo Panday called for a total ban on the newspapers on January 31, for what he claimed to be "the negative way the publication consistently sought to portray his administration." Panday had initially crossed paths with the Guardian around January 19, following the publication of an editorial which was critical of his statements in Parliament.

In his presentation, Panday claimed that the Opposition party, the People's National Movement (PNM) was "plotting violent protests" to destabilise his administration. The Editorial, which was highly critical of the PM, stated that, as leader of Government, Panday should be more responsible when making those types of statements, especially when the National Security Minister and other members of Cabinet were unable to support the information or reports being quoted. Calling the PM's comments in Parliament "alarmist," the newspaper called on the Prime Minister to produce the evidence to justify "such a desperate allegation."

The Editorial continued: "Mr Panday, an enthusiastic advocate of open Government, did not see it fit to inform the nation about the source of his information, or the substance on which he makes such a seditious charge. "His warning about the Opposition party becomes even more curious when one realises that his 'official report' did not come from the National Security Ministry. When informed of Mr Panday's charge, (National Security) Minister Theodore said he was hearing of the alleged plot for the first time."

In a front page story in early February, the newspaper reported that following the publication of the Editorial, the Prime Minister telephoned and told the editors he was offended by the Editorial, as it called him a liar. He lashed out at the newspaper's Editor in Chief, Jones P Madeira for questioning his credibility. "Jones P should have known better," said Panday. "I would not have made a statement like that in Parliament if I did not have the proof. It was an official report and without even talking to me, he went ahead and accused me of being a liar."

At a public forum to launch a Carnival promotion on January 31, Panday described Madeira as a "racist, vicious and spiteful" person who was bent on destroying his Government. He said the decline in the quality of the newspaper's reporting was the last straw and he took objection to the phrase "Chutney Rising" as a banner headline of a front page story earlier that month. He said the headline was part of an ongoing campaign against his administration by the newspaper and stated his intention to bar all members of his Cabinet from speaking with reporters from the Guardian, in an effort to force the removal of the newspaper's Editor in Chief.

"The fight began a little while back but I will intensify it," shouted the Prime Minister during a rally in San Fernando, the country's second largest city about 60 km south of the capital. "I intend to fight with every ounce of energy I have. Should I let them hit me in the head and just take it? I intend to fight to win. I am not settling for a draw!"

He said the issue of Madeira had already been raised with Anthony Sabga, Chairman of the ANSA McAL Group, which has controlling interest in the Trinidad Publishing Company (TPC), publishers of the Guardian. The TPC, a public limited liability company, is quoted on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange and has hundreds of small shareholders.

The Prime Minister also urged reporters to write Sabga and call for Madeira's dismissal, as he (Madeira) would be limiting their access to stories as a result of the ban. Despite the strong reaction from the Prime Minister, the Guardian's Chief Editor was unscathed, saying that he was not intimidated by the PM's threats.

"The Guardian will continue to be professional and objective in doing its work as it has been over the past 78 years. I am not the least bit intimidated ... as Editor in Chief I am very confident in the organization. Our staff will remain professional and objective." This was also the reaction of TPC's Managing Director, Alwin Chow, as he threw the support of the Board of Directors behind Madeira. The war of words continued for almost a week with various regional and international media groups showing their support for the newspaper.

Panday declared a truce on February 5, after he met with top level executives of ANSA McAL and a deal was struck. But, the truce governed only the battle, since the war continued behind closed doors, until it intensified on April 1, when Managing Director, Alwin Chow walked off the job claiming he was "constructively dismissed" after fighting to protect the newspaper's editorial policy. Chow said he had been informed at an ANSA McAL executive board meeting on March 27, that the Group was setting up a committee to develop an editorial policy for the Guardian newspaper, given its dissatisfaction with the direction the newspaper had taken over the previous few weeks. He was informed that the committee will include ANSA McAL board members, Dunbar McIntyre, Tim Nafziger, Michael Mansoor and Martin Daly, the latter two being members of the TPC board.

Chow said he was asked to agree to support whatever editorial policy was developed by the committee. He replied that he could not give that commitment without documentation and suggested that the committee take two weeks and provide him with a copy to peruse. He said he explained to the directors that only then would he be able to say whether he could work with the new policy. If, in his opinion, the policy was not satisfactory, he would resign. The next day, Chow said he attended a luncheon meeting with Mansoor, Chairman of the TPC, and was asked to remove Hulsie Bhaggan's column from the Sunday Guardian. He was also told that there had been complaints about a column she had written about Attorney General, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj.

Chow informed Mansoor that he would not be able to convince his editors to follow that instruction as it would add to the series of stories carried by the Guardian which had antagonised the Group and strained its relationship with the new Government.
"I was asked to part company with the Guardian for not adhering to certain editorial directions that I felt were contrary to the commitment that had been made to the editorial managers in mid- February. It ultimately came to the point where I could not carry out those instructions and, therefore, essentially I was constructively dismissed."

Chow said some of the issues that dissatisfied ANSA McAL's top executives included a story in late March criticising International Communications Network (ICN) for hiring Gideon Hanoomansingh and the Guardian's coverage of the Muslimeen's legal battle with the Attorney General. He also told Mansoor that it would be difficult for the newspaper to send all its editorials to the Group's Chairman for vetting. Despite this, Attorney and TPC Board member, Lynette Seebaran Suite, contends that the shareholders of TPC are the owners of the newspaper and should, therefore, have a say in what is printed in the newspaper that they own, by setting the editorial policy. These shareholders, like those of any other company voice their opinions through the Board of Directors.

"The newspaper is not owned by the general public," she says. "It is owned by the shareholders and the main purpose of the newspaper, as far as the shareholders are concerned, is to make a profit. "We are fully aware of the role the newspaper plays in the development of a democracy, but you must remember that a newspaper is a commercial enterprise first and the shareholders' purpose for investing is a reasonable return. In this regard, as owners, we must always have the right to influence the future direction of our investment."

Newspapers around the Caribbean face special problems as most are not large enough to resist pressures from politicians and big business owners. Also the industry is not diverse enough for the free market system to ensure freedom of speech and information. This is especially true in Trinidad where the major media houses, including the two major newspapers, are owned by two of the larger conglomerates in the Caribbean. The avenue is there for politicians, as well as business groups, to influence editorial in order to set public policy in their favour.

Newspapers the world over derive their revenue from two main sources - the sale of advertising space and sale of copies to its readers. In the Caribbean, the daily newspapers depend on the advertising dollar for about 80 percent of its revenue (some figures vary to as high as 95 percent). This is also true for the weekly papers. And, despite the advent of television, the newspaper industry is still able to command the lions' share of the advertising market. Thus newspapers are seen as the dominant marketing medium in Trinidad and Tobago. Regionally, advertising revenue, rather than circulation or readership figures, determines which publication will make a profit and which will not survive.

Confronted with a drop in circulation following the "resignation/dismissal" of its most senior staff, the Guardian, in its April 13 publication, noted that there had been a 4.0 percent decline in circulation, which it viewed as "insignificant." But "insignificant" would not have been the comment if there had been a drop in advertising, no matter how small the percentage. Therefore, there is a strong argument that the press is indeed a commercial enterprise, selling its goods - advertisements and information - for a profit and any debate on the role of the media should be directed within this sphere.

Early newspapers were often family concerns. But, at the end of the 19th Century, with the introduction of newspapers designed to cater for a mass readership, larger capital sums were needed than individual owners could provide. Thus, newspaper publication became a major capital intensive industry. Over the past two decades, the overall structure of the newspaper industry has changed, making it much easier for various interest groups to own a newspaper. This has resulted in a concentration of the influence of public opinion into the hands of just a few.

Publications around the Caribbean seem to be owned by large scale corporations involved in much more than the newspaper industry. Many have strong ties with a wide range of industrial sectors. In Trinidad and Tobago, businesses with links to the media include those also in the insurance, textile, and retail industries. By the early 1980's, conglomerate control had become the predominant form of press ownership, and what is even more surprising, is the fact that these conglomerates were not only interested in the newspapers, but also television, radio and the new forms of the media. Because of its links to the public and the market, some conglomerates were even financing loss- making papers.

The decision by the Government of ANR Robinson to "open up" the Trinidad and Tobago media industry in 1987, made it much easier for local conglomerates to acquire additional media houses and expand the industry to include newer publishing media. The conglomerates moved into the newspaper industry, not only for prestige, but as a strategy to influence the environment in which they operated.

Intuitively, therefore, the more broadly based the conglomerate, the more likely the chance of it intervening in the press. Pressure is likely to be greater where the group's interests are threatened by Government policies or where the legitimacy of other activities and policies (of their various businesses) are called into question. What this means is that Caribbean newspapers are easy prey of both Government and regional conglomerates.

Such an argument is reminiscent of the ongoing controversy at the Guardian newspaper. But ANSA McAL chairman, Anthony Sabga brushed off the allegations, saying that it was "absolute nonsense" to believe that his conglomerate, which is "too big to find ourselves aligned to any parties" would succumb to any form of external pressures. Despite this, the public's perception is that the newspaper had indeed fallen victim to such pressures.

Commenting on the train of events which lead to the resignation of the newspaper's senior staff, Michael Mansoor, Chairman of the TPC said, "What really created these unfortunate events (at the Guardian) was a disparity of views between certain members of the management team and the Board, as to the right of the publisher to determine editorial policy and the manner of ensuring the implementation of such a policy."

And, clearly showing solidarity, another daily newspaper, The Express, which is also part of a conglomerate, stated its position in an editorial soon after the mass resignations: "The ... right to decide the editorial direction of any newspaper lies with the owners of that newspaper ..." Opposition leader, Patrick Manning, also supports this view, claiming that the developments in the newspaper can be linked to efforts by the parent company to get on the Government's good side in order to receive final approval for its multi- million dollar Grand Bazaar shopping complex, 5km from the capital city.

Manning, who was Prime Minister just six months earlier, told a news conference that his administration had granted outline approval for the TT$90 million project. He said that when he left office, final approval was still pending because of infrastructural irregularities. This included the problem of the car park encroaching on the road reserve.

"Therefore, there is a dispute between the Government and McAL. I have reason to believe that pressure is being exerted on McAL as a result of that issue, to force McAL to act in other areas not excluding the Guardian. Therefore, I am not surprised at all about what has now happened. "This, coupled with the recent attempt to appoint Gideon Hanoomansingh, a former United National Congress Parliamentary Representative, to a senior post at Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), has grave implications for the freedom of the press in this country."

Manning warned that the attack on the freedom of the press was "a preview of coming attractions," asking "Who else will be next?" Despite these developments, the three daily newspapers still make regular claims to be defenders of the sacred principle of freedom of the press. But how genuine is their concern? A study on the TT newspaper industry by Roderick Santana and Professor Aggrey Brown, Director of the Jamaican- based Caribbean Institute of Mass Communications, showed that professional standards and ethics were practiced "only as far as they avoid treading on the interests of the business people who own and control the newspaper companies."

The views that the Guardian and the Express have of themselves are worth noting since the researchers observed: "Although these newspapers had delegated operational control, the owners still retained their effective control over overall policy and resource allocation through the board of directors which they elected, and on which some of them sat. "Consequently, the editors' operational autonomy and their continued employment with the company depend on their willingness to comply with the interests of the owners."

It's positions like these which are now being used to question the role of the press in society. A significant move towards a free press would be the introduction of legislation to protect editors and working journalists from political and special interest pressures while doing their jobs.

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