Ian Boyne, Contributor
THE IMPROPRIETIES, breaches, mismanagement - some would say corruption - which have been uncovered at the National Solid Waste Management Authority by the auditor-general are sure to provide heated and sharp political exchanges over the next few days.
There will be no surprises: The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party will try to extract as much mileage and juice from the report as possible and its supporters in the media will follow suit. The governing People's National Party for its part will huddle together to formulate the best possible damage control initiative, and its supporters in the media will dutifully follow the game plan. If the public interest is served at all, then that will be purely coincidental.
Many of us in this society have resigned ourselves to this reality. But I for one can't get accustomed to it. I resent it deeply. If there is one thing I despise about us as Jamaicans is our partisanship, narrow-mindedness, tribalism and herd mentality, which seem to be deep in our DNA.We are an intensely divisive and fractious people and we unite around very few things outside of sports, and that is only when our team is doing well.
NARROW VIEW OF CORRUPTION
My biggest emancipation wish is that we would emancipate ourselves from the instinctive, reflexive partisanship and tribalistic mentality.
Anyone who knows me or who has been reading me can passionately attest to the fact that fairness, critical thinking, non-partisanship and openness are valued very highly by me. I believe there is a strong connection between our high levels of corruption and our intense partisanship and tribalism.
We have a narrow view of
corruption in this country. We seem to feel that if people are not personally enriched by a transaction, that if money is not passed in that transaction, and that if money is not outrightly stolen, then no corruption has taken place. Yet one of the most prominent features of corruption in Jamaica is intellectual corruption, the corruption of our minds and consciences.
Abuse of power comes easily in a society like ours because of our revolting partisanship and tendency to rally around our group rather than around larger principles. So it's not a matter of what is right or wrong, but who is doing it.
We don't genuinely value freedom of expression in this society; we greatly value the freedom of our expression. We demand the right to speak up and to say what we want, but we don't have a culture of tolerance for what others have to say. We need to open a whole conversation about how our illiberal spirit affects various sectors and institutions of the society. Today I want to pay some attention to journalism.
THE GOLDING LETTER
I go back to that July 15 letter from JLP leader Bruce Golding to former Air Jamaica chairman Gordon 'Butch' Stewart in which Golding said of Member of parliament Andrew Gallimore, who had launched a scathing parliamentary attack on Stewart: "He had abused the privilege of Parliament and exploited his parliamentary colleagues to launch an attack on you and your organisation in pursuance of a dispute between his brother and Air Jamaica."
I thought of the fact that we, as journalists, have far more power to influence and damage reputations than any parliamentarian, whose credibility is an immediately suspect by all, but his partisan followers. (And the majority of us are committed to no party).
POWER TO INFLUENCE
We, in the media, have enormous power to influence, to shape opinions and to frame issues, and how do we guard against journalists using their positions of influence to further private vendettas and personal interests? We talk about parliamentary privilege, but what about the use of press privilege? It is more decisive apart from Parliament's law-making ability. Cliff Hughes is far more influential than any Andrew Gallimore, Robert Pickersgill, Omar Davies or Pearnel Charles. (I say influential, not more powerful).
How journalists like Cliff Hughes, Wilmot Perkins and media practitioners like Alan Magnus conduct themselves on the job is critically important. We would get rightly worked up if it were to be proven to be true, as Golding alleges, that Andrew Gallimore 'was motivated less by his concern for the public interest than by the dispute between his brother and Air Jamaica.'
But what if it were to be known that journalists and columnists were motivated less by public concern than by their own resentments, hate, bitterness and desire to settle scores? That is also corruption. Any misuse of power which is supposed to be held as a public trust constitutes corruption and must not be seen lightly.
If I as a columnist, for example, were to use my privileged position to advance my public relations interests and those of my employers that would be corruption. The editor reposes trust in me that when I am writing I will not seek to promote the interests of my 9-5 employers or anyone else and if I betray that trust, that is corruption.
If I were to use my column in this the most prestigious paper in the entire Caribbean to denigrate, vilify, constantly attack and demean the JLP in furtherance of my contract with the state that would be corruption. And my readers should not take it lightly or say, "ah well, he is just singing for his supper like everybody else?. We have too high a tolerance for corruption and abuse of power in this country.
JOURNALISTS AND MORALS
My view is that of all the professions, journalism is one which obligates its practioners to be moral beings. People who are crude pragmatists; who have no ethical moorings and who are indifferent to or who ridicules moral values will hardly make honest journalists. What would make a crude pragmatist who scoffs at moral principles refuse to take bribes to support particular interests when that will enrich him? He would have no scruples. (Note that I am not saying the journalist has to be religious. Atheists can be moral people, too. But that excludes nihilists)
A journalist's philosophical orientation is, therefore, not irrelevant or incidental to his work. What the journalist or columnist believes about morality has a great bearing on how he will perform. A person who is a situation ethicist, who denies moral absolutes or who believes principles are expendable or must be subordinated to personal interests and sentiments, will use his media power to malign, denigrate and abuse enemies and can be bought to play any tune. Journalism depends on ethical people.
If a journalist is motivated primarily by money and 'getting ahead', he can be bought and will compromise any principle to advance his interests.
The more power an institution wields, the more it is critical indeed, imperative that the players in that institution be ethical, morally-grounded people who put values first. If you are not values-based, you will promote expediency and you will go after perceived enemies and corruptly promote friends and clients.
ETHICS A PREREQUISITE
Journalism schools cannot be just teaching people how to write, do television and radio broadcasting and how to research. Ethics is a prerequisite. My religious ideology has contributed as significantly to whatever success and credibility I have gleaned over the last 30 years in the profession, as much as my addiction to reading, cerebral orientation and mastery of certain skills.
My devotion to principles and ethics has allowed me to work for the two major political parties in a senior communications capacity and to retain the respect of successive political leaders of the two parties.
And I can say honestly that in the years I have worked with both the JLP and the PNP Governments (from 1983 to the present), not one Minister or Government official from either party has ever sought to use me to promote them or attack the competition in any of my commercial media work. Perhaps if we as journalists behave in a certain way certain requests will not even come our way.
I have written favourably about Bruce Golding and strongly supported his candidacy for JLP leadership and not one Government Minister has ever breathed a word of concern about it to me, and when I see P.J. Patterson he is just as warm and receptive to me as he has ever been.
As journalists we must realise that our credibility is our greatest asset. It is our biggest strength It is what will protect us from any abuse from the powerful. When our audience knows that we are truly impartial, non-partisan, and fair for the most part, for we are all flawed human beings then they will be vociferous about any encroachment on our freedom of expression. That is what I depend on.
COMMITMENT TO ETHICS
I am not alone in this regard in the Jamaican media. We have some fine journalists committed to high ethical principles, carrying out their tasks professionally and courageously. We must never allow the partisan, tribalistic culture in which we operate to divert us from our sacred obligation to the Jamaican people, and not to any sectional interests. The day we believe we cannot be true to our conscience and to our public trust, we must give up our columns and talk-shows.
I fear that the corporate sector might not have inculcated the culture of respect for freedom of expression that the much-maligned politicians have, to some degree. Politicians know that the society expects them to respect journalistic independence and keep their hands off the free Press. As corporate sponsors become more dominant and as some of us journalists become more successful, I hope we will make them know that our independence is non-negotiable.
We must get everyone, no matter how wealthy or powerful to respect the culture of freedom of expression and we must not bow to any pressure whatever to compromise values. That ultimately is our safeguard against corruption. The corruption of our consciences is the mother of all corruption.
Ian Boyne is a veteran journalist. You can e-mail him at ianboyne1@yahoo.com or infocus@gleanerjm.com
