The BBC Martin Gough's insulting journalism
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Kaieteur News
March 27, 2007
It is commonly known throughout the Third World that western journalism takes pleasure at bashing developing countries. They only see the negative side of life in post-colonial societies.
You read what these journalists have to say and you would think that life is paradise in the Western world. You would not know that your life can be ended suddenly at a football match in the Premier League in any British city when opposing fans descend to senseless barbarism.
If a wrestler become a Prime Minister in a Third World state, that country's political culture will be ridiculed. Absolutely nothing was wrong when a fourth-rate Hollywood actor became governor of California.
It was expected that British tabloid journalism would have invaded the Caribbean when Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 got started, but to witness the gutter journalism from a BBC Sport correspondent is the largest indication to date that British society has certainly declined. Maybe to arrest this deterioration, Tony Blair thought America could help and that is why he became the biggest partner in the Coalition of the Willing.
So what is Mr. Martin Gough complaining about? You would not believe it. A little raindrop on his head that may have sent Burt Bacharach rushing to Guyana if he knew we had Mr. Gough here in our country.
Can someone tell us what is the term for fear of raindrops? Is it rainophobia? Look who is talking about rain. An Englishman of all people! Nothing is more depressing in the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland than the weather.
You read Mr. Gough's lamentation about the little rainfall we had yesterday and you would think he lives on Copacabana beach. Mr. Gough has a difficulty in understanding world sociology.
He loves little St. Lucia (an earthly paradise as he describes it) and was disappointed that Guyana is not a sandy Caribbean island about 200 square miles.
Since he loves the beach and the sand so much, it can be predicted that after CWC, he may choose not to go back to the lugubrious English weather.
Then Mr. Gough makes the description of Guyana that even a half-wit mental asylum patient in the UK would do better at. He says Guyana has a South American feeling. Which part of this great West Indian country feels like South America? We can't wait to hear Mr. Gough's assessment of the cricket.
Can he tell the difference between silly mid-on and fine leg?
When Mr. Gough reached his hotel, he came out of his car screaming, Eureka! Eureka! He discovered that Guyana has poor houses along the East Bank. Poor Mr. Gough doesn't even that his own country has poor houses.
Really, where did the BBC find this disoriented soul. Please don't come again Mr. Gough. We recommend a life for you on some small Pacific island
Welcome to Guyana
By Martin Gough - BBC Sport journalist
After a fortnight in the holiday resort of St Lucia, we arrived in the pouring rain of Guyana on Sunday morning to receive a harsh culture shock.
Guyana, the only non-island nation in West Indies cricket, is bordered by Venezuela to the west, Suriname to the east and Brazil to the south so, unsurprisingly, it has a South American feel.
But there was a more immediate hit as the drive from the airport towards the capital Georgetown took us past a community sprawling on the banks of the Demerara River, its houses poor and surrounded by water – puddles and drainage ditches.
Few of those people are likely to turn up to matches in the next two weeks at the brand new Providence Stadium on the other side of the dual carriageway.
Unlike St Lucia, where soccer is the hotter topic of conversation, that is not for want of enthusiasm in the land of Rohan Kanhai , Clive Lloyd and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Ticket prices for the Super 8 clashes, which start with South Africa against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, pits England and Ireland on Friday and sees the West Indies arrive for the weekend, start at US$50, which for many is a week's wages.
Despite fears to the contrary, it looks like games will go ahead as planned at the ground, which was built with the aid of India's cricket board, although there may be an element of chaos.
There were problems with power last week, although that seems to have been surmounted. Whether I will have an internet connection to report from the games is still open to question.
While the playing arena and stands look world class, the area around it is a building site. On Monday, I paddled from the accreditation centre to the media centre, and again from there to the pavilion.
It's been raining, and how! Georgetown had been dry for weeks, according to our taxi driver but, “when it's time for cricket, the rain come.”
South Africa had barely begun training at nearby Everest Cricket Club on Monday morning when the heavens opened and they were left pondering the possibility of a two-day match against Sri Lanka this week, trying desperately to fit in 20 overs per side.
The cameras were set up outside for Sajid Mahmood's news conference at the team hotel, then quickly moved inside.
With England taking it easy for a couple of days, Saj and a friend went for a trip to Georgetown zoo, situated near the Bourda ground, seat of Guyana's rich cricketing history.
Another group took a flight south to national landmark the Kaieteur Falls, apparently nearly five times as high as those at Niagara.
In a city with a seafront that feels a little like Skegness – but a little hotter - as the moody Atlantic Ocean crashes into the sea wall, entertainment may be at a premium over the next two weeks.
Our first came at the expense of radio colleague Arlo White, who was disconcerted to say the least when his taxi driver pulled over at the airport exit and pulled the livery from the side of his cab.
Thankfully, this did not turn out to be a kidnap mission, although when Arlo arrived at our rudimentary hotel he may have wished it had been. The next 16 days will be no holiday