Govt. TV no better than an Orwellian nightmare

March 10, 2006

Recently in the House of Assembly, P stated that in order ?...to speak on a regular basis directly to the people of this country, in an unmediated and unedited fashion...? the Government was going to create a Government Television Station (?GTS?) that will ?...provide a medium for the leaders of Bermuda to detail what the Government is doing, the status of Government initiatives, and the level of progress in reaching important goals for Bermuda.?

P and the gang, including Walter Lister, have apparently considered its aims as similar to those of the BBC, the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (?CBC:), C-SPAN, PBS and a local Government Access Channel in Albuquerque, New Mexico,

Mr. Editor, in fact Mr. Lister said that with ?DCI doing an excellent job, it gives them an extra arm to help convey the message? and that Government would ?fairly? portray facts to the outside world to help it understand where we are. Mr. Lister went on to say ?Most countries have gone this way. It will enable us to communicate with the people without a lot of spin.?

Mr. Editor, with the greatest of respect, that is hogwash.

Mr. Editor, the following values form a part of the BBC?s mandate: ?Trust is the foundation of the BBC?...it is ?...independent, impartial and honest?.

In addition ?Twelve Governors regulate the BBC, upholding standards and defending it from political and commercial pressures. [The Governors set its objectives and report on its performance in their Annual Report to licence payers and Parliament.?

In fact the BBC is funded by a separate tax called a TV Licence and does not come from government coffers thereby ensuring its independence. Further, British Government Ministers dread being interviewed by BBC reporters such as Jeremy Paxman and John Humphries. With this in mind it is disingenuous and entirely misleading for P or his Minister to suggest that the GTS in its current proposed form is in anyway comparable to the BBC.

The Colonel would have no idea what hit him if he was interviews by the BBC ? never mind the Mid Ocean News!

Mr. Editor, C-SPAN, is ?a private, non-profit company, crated in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service. [C-SPAN?s mission is to provide public access to the political process. C-SPAN receives no government funding; operations are funded by fees paid by cable and satellite affiliates who carry C-SPAN programming.?

Again it is clear Mr. Editor that the GTS is not similar to C-SPAN and it is dishonest to suggest otherwise.

As regards CBC, it is similar to the BBC in that it presents a wide range of political views and operates MCTV, a multichannel and pay-TV service. Although it is funded directly by the government, it is not the ?voice? of the government as it permits criticism and is an advocate of openness and debate.

P does not appear to be advocating the screening of anti-government programmes on the GTS, so again the suggestion that the GTS would somehow be similar to CBC is entirely misleading and false.

Mr. Editor, PBS ?is a non-profit membership corporation whose members are licensees of non-commercial educational television stations and is governed by a board comprised largely of representatives of its member stations. PBS operates in the public interest by serving the needs of its member stations. Four fundamental principles shape the content service that PBS provides to its member stations: editorial integrity, quality, diversity, and local station autonomy.?

Again to suggest the GTS will be similar in some way to PBS to devious and deceitful. But this is no surprise.

Finally Mr. Editor, of all the examples cited by P and his ?honourable? colleague, only local Government Access Channel in Albuquerque, New Mexico comes close to the proposed GTS. The Albuquerque channel is operated by the City of Albuquerque Media Resources Division of the Cultural Services Department and is funded primarily through the City?s general fund. Additional funds, equipment and personnel are provided by the County Government. Its primary mission is to bring the public meetings of the Albuquerque City Council and the Bernalillo County Commission to the home audience.

Mr. Editor, it is laughable that the best the PLP could find as a model for its proposed station is a local government channel in New Mexico. Civil servants must have worked overtime to find that example!

Unless the GTS is going to limit its role to broadcast parliamentary sessions and parliamentary committee meetings which will show both the Government views and the Opposition?s view, GTS will be no better than an Orwellian nightmare.