Stuart Jack

Good and not so good in Cayman's media

Some interesting articles in Cayman’s newspapers

Each of Cayman’s newspapers raised interesting issues in their latest editions. The editorial in yesterday morning’s Compass talks about the need for new taxation to sort out the public finances. Having noted that someone has got to pay despite opposition from vested interests it argues that every adult of working age and every household must share the burden. The editorial concludes: “If the territory must impose new taxes or fees, it should be done in a fair way so as not impact any particular group or groups inordinately”. I do not always agree with the Compass but on this occasion they make some telling points.

I am not certain about some of the stuff in Cayman NetNews’ editorial yesterday, but it did usefully look forward to the Anti Corruption Law that is coming into effect in January. This will create a much tougher regime for anyone involved with the public service. 

On a similar tack Sunday's edition of the weekly Observer (the Cayman-based newspaper) looked at the implications for Cayman of the problems in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It finished by picking up a point I had made in this blog about the need for greater transparency of political funding.

But also some disturbing trends in the media

Talk shows and blogs play an increasing role in forming public opinion in Cayman as in many other countries. That is great in that more people have a say (see my earlier blog on participatory democracy). 

But I have been disturbed, recently in particular, by the tone of some of the anonymous free for all in some of Cayman’s media. Criticism (including of myself) is fine. But some of the comments pit one part of the community against another, and sometimes crudely. Some might even fall foul of incitement laws in the UK or other jurisdictions – or possibly libel law here. I personally have no truck with divisive rhetoric and in particular expressions of racial intolerance by and against whatever nationalities or ethnic groups.

No to censorship 

That doesn’t mean I favour censorship in Cayman, I do not. We can hope for responsible reporting and moderation of postings to blogs and talk shows to eliminate offensive material. Self-regulation of the media along the lines of the UK’s Press Complaints Commission has also been suggested. That would be fine if the media themselves buy into the idea. As a look at the Commission’s website (www.pcc.org.uk) and its code of conduct shows it is largely about protecting individual members of the public. That could include individual politicians, but it is not there to protect the government from criticism. 

Government in my view should only intervene in rare circumstances like national security or public morals, but there too only when really necessary and subject to safeguards. Otherwise it just has to put up with criticism, however unfair that may sometimes seem, as a fact of political life. In a democracy like Cayman politicians are free to defend their policies and actions through the media and, if an individual feels he or she has been libelled, to defend their reputation through the courts.

Posted at 21:04 22 September 2009 by Stuart Jack  |  Comments[3]