Blogging via Blackberry: Front Page Reality?
As I normally do, I came into my office this morning and I checked the Express website to read the daily news. After skimming through a couple articles, I finally caught a glimpse of the miniature jpeg version of the Express front page:
Jason Thomas lies in his blood, for the world to see
I can’t say I was lost for words, but I was surprised that the Express would have chosen such a front page, given their history of being slightly more family oriented in terms of reporting in comparison to the Newsday in particular.
Now, I understand why they did it. It isn’t simply to sell newspapers as many people commenting below the story insinuate.
It was an attempt to drive home a point.
Good intentions aside, I believe the Express has totally missed the mark with this one.
Just over three years ago, whilst Englishman Alan Geere was the editor in chief of the paper, a similar front page was proposed by the man from the United Kingdom.
It was shot down by the editorial committee, seen as too grim for the Express to carry.
While I do not support today’s front page, the bright eyed intern I was then supported Geere’s front page.
For all those ready to label me hypocrite, here is my reasoning.
That front page that never was, featured a bandit who was shot dead by police, lying dead in the middle of the road.
The adjoining headline was ‘Crime Does Not Pay’. Notably the dead bandit was not swimming in his own plasma.
I supported that “front page” because it sent a message.
It was a rarity then as it is now. It was a news report that emphasised a sentiment that criminals would still be culpable for their actions, something that was and is still sorely missing from our news outlets today.
It also came before Trinidad and Tobago ever recorded 400 murders in a year. At the end of 2007, the murder toll stood at 397. That front page would have come long before Leah Lammy went missing or Tecia Henry was snatched and murdered. It would have been eons before Kishore Maharaj’s last moments became a Youtube video.
Since that editorial committee overruled Geere, we’ve also had two years back to back with 500 plus murders.
So of what significance is the image of Jason Thomas, a municipal police officer, dead, with his car keys in hand and his own blood among the backdrop as an Express front page picture?
What message is today’s front page sending?
The Express wants to believe that this picture will shock the nation into action of some sort, or I really hope this what they believe, much like the Newsday believed they were doing when they concocted this on Independence Day last year:
Shamilla Lolita Ramjit, 35 of Nandoo Trace, Woodland and her daughter Nevi Vionna, died in a fatal accident a year ago.
The Newsday, as the Express is likely to do if there is mass public criticism of yesterday’s decision, printed an editorial on September 2, 2009 justifying why they chose to place the picture of 11-month old Nevi Vionna, lying lifeless on the grass moments after the accident which claimed the child’s life, as its front page image.
They said:
“ON MONDAY, August 31,2009 our front page should have been covered in the national colours and we should have wished everyone the old cliché “Happ[y] Independence”.
Instead, we printed a photograph of a baby lying at the side of the Solomon Hochoy Highway in the grass. The infant was dead. The photo was meant to shock. And shock it did judging by the letters and telephone calls we received accusing us of insensitivity, lack of human decency, disgraceful and such like comments. Like readers we were pained to see this photograph of a one-year old beautiful doll-like child lying dead in a patch of grass. But we deliberately, and after much thought, published the photo in the hope, which we hope will not be in vain, to sensitise people about the escalating carnage on our roads. The figure to date is 139.”
They continued further:
“It hurt us all at Newsday to place Baby Nevi’s photograph on our front page on Independence Day. We are all family people too. But our decision was taken because we felt we had to bring the stark reality of the loss of infants’ lives to you in a manner to make you stop and think. To shock you. We accepted that some of you would be offended. So be it. But for all those of you who were hurt by the sight of this unfortunate infant, we hope that you also commit yourself to ensuring that no child will ever die in a car driven by you.”
Their explanation held little water for me then, but right now, they had more justification than the Express did for their front page today.
Why?
The populous of Trinidad and Tobago is more than aware of the current criminal climate of Trinidad and Tobago. This depiction of Jason Thomas is unlikely to encourage anything more than even greater disbelief among our people that our society will get better.
This picture on the front page of what is generally regarded as the leading newspaper in our Country in terms of journalistic quality, has simply made the people of Trinidad and Tobago even more desensitised to the crime situation.
If the plan was to wake up the society, I believe the Express has failed.
It’s more the beating of a dead horse, simply more cynicism will follow. More foreign based Trinidadians will read the Express and believe that they cannot return because it is a wild western town.
It has simply proven that the premier newspaper of our Country, which I carried (and continue to carry) much pride in actually contributing to its’ legacy while I was a part of the organisation, has become just has jaded as the country around it.
And has ultimately let its’ standards fall, with a grand public statement or rather image acknowledging such.
This is my opinion.
I hope in this case, I am wrong.
Beautiful People, Poor Administration
Today, or rather tonight, La Toya Woods will strut her stuff on international television at the 2010 edition of the Miss Universe pageant.
The 24-year old Psychology student has certainly grabbed the attention of the nation, and it’s not solely because she chose to do a photo shoot topless (albeit with pasties and body paint), but probably because she’s our best representative in almost a decade.
It is still unknown if Ms Woods’ hype will translate into her becoming our best representative since Danielle Jones broke the top 5 in 2004, but the mere fact that we’ve hardly had any memorable Miss Universe moments since then (Anya Ayoung Chee’s extra curricular videos aside) seems a crying shame for a country that has had a fairly solid history in the competition.
But the recent Miss Trinidad and Tobagos haven’t exactly been walking on solid ground. Since Miss Jones claimed 4th runner-up, we’ve missed out on the show entirely twice, in 2007 and 2009 respectively, due to a lack of sponsorship.
Whilst in 2005, we had the slightly ugly, yet widely forgotten episode of Cheryl Ankrah, who lost her title for “not watching her weight.” The disqualified beauty queen then filed an injunction to block Peter Elias and Associates from choosing a replacement.
Somehow out of that mess, Magdalene Walcott, who previously represented the country at Miss World 2003, went to Thailand as the T&T’s Miss Universe 2005 representative .
Now what happened to the fairly fluid machine that churned out wonderful contestants like Arlene Peterkin, Margot Bourgeois and that girl who sang her way the Miss Universe title in 1998?
It isn’t that our women magically lost their lustre since then as I and many other warm blooded men of various nationalities continue to fall easily in lust while walking on Frederick Street on any given Saturday.
So what is it then?
The administration just isn’t the same.
The truth is the old Miss Trinidad and Tobago franchise holders, Kim Sabeeney and family had been more than competent in preparing our delegates as well as gathering support for the show. The Elias era was, well just let’s leave it at that.
It’s left to be seen what direction the new core group headed by Ian Lee will take it, but Ms Woods seems well prepped for the job thus far.
From the looks of things they certainly are miles ahead of whoever concocted the debacle which was the Miss (and Mister) T&T World Show three weeks ago.
But unfortunately for us the beautiful people of Trinidad and Tobago, the problem of poor administration has not only plagued those eager to wear a sash emblazoned with the country’s name across it.
Football, Maxi Taxi Associations, the Port, the Licensing Office, pretty much everything in Trinidad and Tobago except Cricket, KFC and JAPS seem to have no clue how to properly direct themselves and as such we continue to frustrate ourselves in attempts to go forward.
Hopefully with Ms Woods’s performance tonight, favourable or otherwise, the people who know the way forward can step up. More importantly, they need to be acknowledged as the thinkers with the know how and drive to carry us forward.
Because as it stands we have too many ignorant individuals stuck in their narrow thinking in prominent positions, allowing the entire world to walk away from them and as a result, us.
Plain Talk, Good English 
Filed under: Everyday Commentary, News
As I normally do, I came into my office this morning and I checked the Express website to read the daily news. After skimming through a couple articles, I finally caught a glimpse of the miniature jpeg version of the Express front page:
Jason Thomas lies in his blood, for the world to see
I can’t say I was lost for words, but I was surprised that the Express would have chosen such a front page, given their history of being slightly more family oriented in terms of reporting in comparison to the Newsday in particular.
Now, I understand why they did it. It isn’t simply to sell newspapers as many people commenting below the story insinuate.
It was an attempt to drive home a point.
Good intentions aside, I believe the Express has totally missed the mark with this one.
Just over three years ago, whilst Englishman Alan Geere was the editor in chief of the paper, a similar front page was proposed by the man from the United Kingdom.
It was shot down by the editorial committee, seen as too grim for the Express to carry.
While I do not support today’s front page, the bright eyed intern I was then supported Geere’s front page.
For all those ready to label me hypocrite, here is my reasoning.
That front page that never was, featured a bandit who was shot dead by police, lying dead in the middle of the road.
The adjoining headline was ‘Crime Does Not Pay’. Notably the dead bandit was not swimming in his own plasma.
I supported that “front page” because it sent a message.
It was a rarity then as it is now. It was a news report that emphasised a sentiment that criminals would still be culpable for their actions, something that was and is still sorely missing from our news outlets today.
It also came before Trinidad and Tobago ever recorded 400 murders in a year. At the end of 2007, the murder toll stood at 397. That front page would have come long before Leah Lammy went missing or Tecia Henry was snatched and murdered. It would have been eons before Kishore Maharaj’s last moments became a Youtube video.
Since that editorial committee overruled Geere, we’ve also had two years back to back with 500 plus murders.
So of what significance is the image of Jason Thomas, a municipal police officer, dead, with his car keys in hand and his own blood among the backdrop as an Express front page picture?
What message is today’s front page sending?
The Express wants to believe that this picture will shock the nation into action of some sort, or I really hope this what they believe, much like the Newsday believed they were doing when they concocted this on Independence Day last year:
Shamilla Lolita Ramjit, 35 of Nandoo Trace, Woodland and her daughter Nevi Vionna, died in a fatal accident a year ago.
The Newsday, as the Express is likely to do if there is mass public criticism of yesterday’s decision, printed an editorial on September 2, 2009 justifying why they chose to place the picture of 11-month old Nevi Vionna, lying lifeless on the grass moments after the accident which claimed the child’s life, as its front page image.
They said:
“ON MONDAY, August 31,2009 our front page should have been covered in the national colours and we should have wished everyone the old cliché “Happ[y] Independence”.
Instead, we printed a photograph of a baby lying at the side of the Solomon Hochoy Highway in the grass. The infant was dead. The photo was meant to shock. And shock it did judging by the letters and telephone calls we received accusing us of insensitivity, lack of human decency, disgraceful and such like comments. Like readers we were pained to see this photograph of a one-year old beautiful doll-like child lying dead in a patch of grass. But we deliberately, and after much thought, published the photo in the hope, which we hope will not be in vain, to sensitise people about the escalating carnage on our roads. The figure to date is 139.”
They continued further:
“It hurt us all at Newsday to place Baby Nevi’s photograph on our front page on Independence Day. We are all family people too. But our decision was taken because we felt we had to bring the stark reality of the loss of infants’ lives to you in a manner to make you stop and think. To shock you. We accepted that some of you would be offended. So be it. But for all those of you who were hurt by the sight of this unfortunate infant, we hope that you also commit yourself to ensuring that no child will ever die in a car driven by you.”
Their explanation held little water for me then, but right now, they had more justification than the Express did for their front page today.
Why?
The populous of Trinidad and Tobago is more than aware of the current criminal climate of Trinidad and Tobago. This depiction of Jason Thomas is unlikely to encourage anything more than even greater disbelief among our people that our society will get better.
This picture on the front page of what is generally regarded as the leading newspaper in our Country in terms of journalistic quality, has simply made the people of Trinidad and Tobago even more desensitised to the crime situation.
If the plan was to wake up the society, I believe the Express has failed.
It’s more the beating of a dead horse, simply more cynicism will follow. More foreign based Trinidadians will read the Express and believe that they cannot return because it is a wild western town.
It has simply proven that the premier newspaper of our Country, which I carried (and continue to carry) much pride in actually contributing to its’ legacy while I was a part of the organisation, has become just has jaded as the country around it.
And has ultimately let its’ standards fall, with a grand public statement or rather image acknowledging such.
This is my opinion.
I hope in this case, I am wrong.