Local media eat humble pie at Oval

The West Indies are losing the battle off the field as well during the current English cricket tour of the Caribbean. On day one of the Second Test yesterday at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, the local media, and in particular, the Trinidad and Tobago contingent were once again made to feel like second class citizens, in their own country to boot. In a scandalous act, made worse by the absence of any defence by media representatives, local sports journalists were shoved crammed like sardines in a Brunswick tin and others pushed to the rear of a media booth. For the entire match, the local media is being forced to stare at the backs of the foreign newsmen, mainly from England and Australia.

Some feel that given the spineless nature of the majority of the print media here, it is what they deserve.  One benefit of this is that the deadweights in the local media are gradually being exposed and are being replaced by young, aggressive and positive oriented journalists.
This kind of spirit need to be encouraged. In this regard, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board of Control (TTCBC) have to be held accountable and brace for a barrage of criticism.

Yes, these men have got it wrong yet again. It is clear they never catered for the influx of media from the British Isles some of whom are reportedly masquerading as bona fide reporters. And in another twist to the ongoing saga, Newsday were forced to report and take photographs of the first day’s play with “Support Staff” passes instead of the official media accreditation. It is understood that the Barbadian company contracted to hand the processing of the passes fell down on the job leaving several regional media houses in limbo. However Imran Khan, representing the WICB in the matter has been working diligently to have Newsday properly accredited so that readers of the leading daily in Trinidad and Tobago can follow the match.

It is understood that Ruskin Mark of NBN has officially protested to Dale Enoch, president of the Media Association about  his crew’s removal from the Gerry Gomez Media Centre to make way for the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). NBN, owned by Government has been placed in the Jeffrey Stollmeyer Stand. Last night Enoch was having discussions with Ellis Lewis, president of the TT Cricket Board of Control about the litany of woes being experienced by the local writers and photographers. Part of the solution would have been a rationing system prohibiting every Tom, Dick, Harry and Henrietta from fly by night media organisations in England from manipulating the system.

The English media practitioners were seen giggling like sassy school girls yesterday,  no doubt relishing the wool they had pulled over the eyes of the naive cricket authorities in the Caribbean. The fact that they attempted a similar coup d’etat in Jamaica and were literally shot down by the angry mob of tough Jamaican journalists was lost on the lot here in Trinidad. What will now happen in the one-dayers next month is anyone’s guess. By then a new executive of MATT will be installed and it would be interesting to see what role they will play having been forewarned of the chaos that is sure to ensue.