October 6, 2002

GIVEN my growing dislike for the Progressive Labour Party's style of Government, it would be easy to throw David Allen into a pile with others you would wish to forget. But once you look at him as an individual, you cannot deny that he was one of the few Members of Parliament who was so passionate about his work.

After reading the many stories in the Mid-Ocean News on October 4th, 2002, I admire him greatly for his bravery in facing death with such courage and still trying to work for us. I would like to thank Ms Shirley Rose Higgins and her brother Jim for sharing the last days of Mr. Allen's life with the people of Bermuda.

I am not interested in Alex Scott's politics of He Said/She Said. Mr. Allen was a man with responsibilities to the public and a member of the Progressive Labour Party Government that claims to be a "Transparent People's Party", but have shown to operate very secretly when it comes to dealing with the people's business.

Because of your willingness to share those difficult and painful last days of Mr. Allen with us, I have found a respect for him that I cannot say exists for some of his working colleagues.

To the Mid-Ocean News, thank you for the in-depth behind the scene reporting that is so rare in Bermuda. To the Higginses, thanks for helping me to respect a man that worked so hard for us even on his deathbed.

And to The Hon. David Allen, rest in peace, I believe you gave us your best.

RAS MYKKAL

City of Hamilton

@TIMES-18:'Disrespectful' story

October 6, 2002

IT is with sadness and shock that I read the headline on Friday, 4 October 2002 of the Mid-Ocean News, titled, "David Allen: His brave final days".

The right of the Mid-Ocean News as a paper operating in a country with a free and independent press, to publish what is news is not in dispute. What is troubling is that the story was published one day after the funeral of David Allen. A day after his family and friends will have to live their lives without him and are still mourning the loss. The day after the country gave tribute to him as a faithful, dedicated servant of the people of Bermuda. The story completely disrespected Mr. Allen's wishes of privacy which the media have been made well aware of.

What was the real object of this story? The story claims to address questions "lingering in the minds of the Bermuda public". General opinion from the public in fact is that the story was distasteful and wildly speculative. There was certainly no need to reveal unpleasant details of Mr. Allen's debilitating condition as he was struggling in his last days. The Mid-Ocean News also saw fit to publish what was clearly confidential medical information which no doctor would have allowed anyone other than close family members to have. The Mid-Ocean News seems to have callously and blithely disregarded this. The paper should have questioned Ms Higgins' authority to reveal this information, if in fact she was the person who made it available to the paper.

What shows perhaps the greatest example of the lack of journalistic integrity is the Mid-Ocean's failure to seek corroborating statements from the persons Ms Higgins accused of negligent behaviour towards David Allen. The persons were, in fact, his closest friends and certainly deserved the opportunity to refute her accusations.

The Mid-Ocean News would do well to form a higher opinion of the Bermuda public - we do not appreciate inappropriate, tabloid-like journalism and deserve and expect better of our publications. This is perhaps the most distasteful standard the Mid-Ocean has declined to date.

WALTER H. ROBAN

Smith's Parish