I will always support the freedoms human beings are entitled to as spelt out by the Roman philosopher of Cicero and subsequent thinkers of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, though I believe a deconstructed analysis of the Enlightenment would reveal it was a Eurocentric phenomenon. I have been influenced by this thought out of the writings of the late brilliant Palestinian thinker, Edward Said.
I have one child and before she was born, I framed a huge poster given to me by an official from the UNDP. It says; “People only live full lives in the light of human rights.” She grew up seeing that frame on the wall. I believe no matter how ideologically opposed we are to each other in our functions as human beings; people are entitled to their natural freedoms.
I did not support the politics of Mark Benschop. If he holds those same views now as he did before he was charged, then I cannot support his political conceptualisations but I state here without reservation that I believe given the charge of treason against him, his re-trial should have taken place already.
I say the above because I do not want it to be mentioned that as a person that believes in human rights, I am in support of the GINA withdrawal of ads from the Stabroek News. I don't need to emphasise that since I have written about it before that I do not think that policy should have been pursued.
When the dust is settled, I am sure there will be a meeting of minds between the concerned parties.
In the debate on the withdrawal of the ads two factors must always be borne in mind.
One is that the Kaieteur News is not a player in the controversy. It is unjust, unfair, indecent and dishonest to attack the Kaieteur News because the government chose it as the private newspaper to allocate more ads to.
Does that mean that KN is a supporter of the PPP or a bad paper? How can any sane mind arrive at that conclusion? If President Bush gives increased aid to Guyana , does it mean Guyanese support his Iraq policy?
The second one is that SN should not contest the action of GINA as if it is entitled to the placements because it is a better newspaper. Unfortunately SN and its supporters have walked into such a trap and are happy to stay inside of it.
It is important to note that the defenders of SN have not analysed why the circulation of the KN has gone ahead of SN. If they do that, then they will see that this country is a complex one and nothing should be taken for granted.
It has to do with the complacency of SN and its psychological belief that it is a superior newspaper and is invincible.
Maybe I am putting it too strongly or even wrongly. But over the years, SN felt that it was the only serious newspaper and it didn't have to worry about competitors in the media, whether print or electronic. That was a tragic mistake.
It was tragic in two senses: (A) it didn't feel that it had to innovate and reach out to talented people that could raise its standards.
A good example of this was the columnist, Allan Fenty. Very few newspapers, if any, would see marketability in Fenty given the nature of the column. But Stabroek couldn't have bothered to raise the standard of Fenty's pieces. SN also failed to retain the marketing value of Ravi Dev.
Then its competitor, KN, decided to do what SN failed to accomplish. It innovated. Ravi Dev, Adam Harris and Stella Ramsarooop began to write and people tuned in. These were popular writers that people read.
Dev is a first-rate intellectual. Harris is quite known among newspaper readers. Stella acquired instant fame. (B) – investigative journalism was not a priority for SN. The people of KN decided to emphasise this. The result was breath-taking revelations that the entire Guyanese society was enthralled with.
In any society, people would like to know why things happen. It is not sufficient to tell them that they happened. This is human nature. Curiosity is a compelling trait in humans. KN filled this void.
When the Buxton conspiracy took over Guyana , KN knew that this social aberration would occupy the minds of every citizen. KN then dedicated its pages to covering crime because crime was what had taken over Guyana .
The Stabroek News woke up and found that it had a strong competitor to deal with. The situation is uncannily analogous to Digicel and GT&T. After the blitz of Digicel, GT&T woke up to the fact that a fight is on its hand and it is fighting back.
SN didn't fight back because at the psychological level it told itself that it was the better newspaper so it wasn't necessary to take KN seriously. The rest is now history.
These then are the reasons why KN's circulation overran SN's.
We come now to the belief by SN and its supporters that the SN appeals to a different but superior clientele. You read all the letters in the SN about this comparison and you wonder what they are talking about. Who reads KN? Who reads SN?
The truth which is hard for SN to take is that its target groups also read KN. Whereas KN has some sections of the population that have no interest in SN.
SN prides itself on three strata of readers that are its fulcrum - the business community, the status groups and the lower and upper middle classes. But the leadership of SN is living in the past. All three of those strata read KN too.
It is complete foolishness to say they don't. Business people buy KN. The white collar workers and the middle class read it. Ask any European, Canadian or American diplomat if he/she reads the KN and they will tell you that they do. These embassies subscribe to KN.
Here now is the crucial point. Large sections of working people perceive SN to be an ivory tower paper so they spend their limited funds on KN.
The fish vendor, the labourer, the cleaner, the citizens of depressed communities just grab up KN. There is some validity in the argument that some state ads are better placed in the KN.
For example, if SIMAP or the Georgetown Hospital is sharing out free medicine, it is better to put that ad in KN. Now because businessmen also read KN, KN should also have state ads.
I hope SN survives because it has and continues to serve a good cause in Guyana . I also hope in this controversy, people recognise the value that KN brings to Guyana .