NBN’s John Victor is new MATT president

AFTER serving two consecutive two-year terms as president of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT), Dale Enoch stepped down as the incumbent during a ceremony last Saturday at Crowne Plaza, in which NBN news anchor John Victor was elected to be the new president. However, Enoch, who is news director at I95 FM, did not hand over the mantle quietly and used his farewell address to lash out at the “sloppy” performance of several local journalists and news organisations. “In the rush to publish and beat deadlines and competition, we are sloppy and our supervision fails miserably. In the electronic arm of the media, our pronunciation is always flawed and our grammar is incorrect,” Enoch said.

“Talk radio has brought with it gurus who literally spit on listeners, geniuses in the media who malign and slander people all in the name of free speech and competition. It’s about who can get closer to the edge and we are not quick in making apologies when they are necessary,” he added. In his report, Enoch noted the present structure of the local media, in which there are 22 radio stations, four local television channels, three daily newspapers as well as weeklies and magazines, did not necessarily mean better standards. Another major concern, Enoch said, was the rapid turnover of staff at some media institutions and poor salaries and working conditions which he said were ruining good professional intentions. “It’s clear the media must remain vibrant and vigilant, but we run the risk of tarnishing the good work we do, we must become vigilant and monitor ourselves very, very closely. What is needed is a Code of Ethics,” Enoch said.

In delivering the feature address, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson echoed Enoch’s sentiments on the Code of Ethics. “One of the roles of an independent free press in a developing society is to identify and point out mistakes wherever they exist and to serve as a watchdog so as to have what is wrong corrected, and what is right encouraged,” said Henderson. “Given the level of competition, the tension that exists can be considerably reduced by a better understanding of the law as relates to how you can report on criminal matters and by your association, establishing a code of ethics that safeguards pre-communication, while at the same time promoting respect for people’s human rights,” Henderson added. He said reports of criminal investigations and court proceedings should be done in the interest of the public and they must be fair and accurate which should never lead to punitive action, unless, despite their factual accuracy, the reports nevertheless threaten or prejudice the due administration of justice.

Journalists, Henderson said,  had to be careful not to convict people by their reported headlines. “It cannot be appropriate to report or broadcast as factual, matters that have not been determined by the judicial process,” Henderson said. Executive director of the Commonwealth Journalists Association Sunity Maharaj, (who arrived late due to the inclement weather) spoke briefly about National Journalism Week, which is scheduled to take place on May 2 to coincide with World Press Freedom Day. She also mentioned plans for the proposed School of Journalism have been finalised and announced the new venue of the headquarters of the Commonwealth Journalists Association as the University of the West Indies.