The Editor, Sir:

It is most timely that the issue of media bias has been raised on the eve ofthe impending general election in Jamaica, primarily because the two things together are, in my view at least, a fundamental part of the democratic process to which Jamaica lays claim. The challenge, however, is that democracy is often not as democratic or for that matter, as representative, as we have seen in numerous instances.

That the media, initially, and in some instances even now, show little, if any, regard either for the PM or her pronouncements is a clear case that the question of media bias is not the imaginings of senile state officials with too much time on their hands and too little in their heads.

Rather, it is to state that the subject of media bias is not simply a matter of whether journalists and media entities will suppress information in the interests of maintaining a favourable view of their candidates, party or representatives.

The Gleaner's Associate Editor Colin Steer, in the publication of Monday, June 25, alludes to it insofar as indicating that 'media people' are not without their own opinions and political positions, albeit questionable in some instances. What Mr. Steer has, however, overlooked to address in his response to the PM's charge as well as the larger, much more important question of the relationship between a culture of democracy, representative gover-nance and media coverage, is the need for guidelines, balance and regulation in an appropriate framework which serve as many interests as possible without compromising the integrity of the process.

MEDIA BIAS

The question of media bias, therefore, while not new, is nonetheless important insofar as it places on the national agenda the need for the media to review their own positions as it relates to their treatment of the political process and politicians, as a result. In which regard, the blatant agenda- pushing observed in some instances, if not too many, is cause for concern and cannot be dismissed wholesale under the rubric of 'same ole, same ole'.

BLATANT

So that, while we are aware that the media area business and that journalists are people too, they are nonetheless obliged to be profes-sionals, called on to act with all the significance and res-ponsibilities that that term implies. The intimation, therefore, that the PM is talking 'nonsense' as it relates to this issue, to quote Mr. Steer, is really a blatant display of the very criticisms being levelled against the (Jamaican) media. That he sees little, if any, value in at least reviewing carefully, both the timeliness as well as the validity of the concerns raised, notwithstanding their origins, speaks volumes.

It is in that vein then that we need to re-examine not just the matter of media bias but the actual implications for the political process in our currently oversaturated media environment in Jamaica. The gospel, according to the media position, needs to be urgently reconsidered, not just because there is need to talk for the sake of it and from political platforms, to boot, but also if not precisely because the media have an obligation to serve and to serve in the best interests of all.

I am, etc.,

AGOSTINHO PINNOCK

Kingston, Jamaica