HYPOCRISY OVER JASON WILLIAMS

IN 1996, the entire urban media rose up in heated protest when attempts were made to appoint a former UNC Member of Parliament to a news job at State-owned TTT. 

As a result, the appointment of news veteran Gideon Hanoomansingh was rescinded. 

The TTT newsroom, headed by activist journalist Tony Fraser, protested the planned hiring, the Media Association groused for days, daily newspapers wrote stinging editorials and various commentators also raised their voices. 

The matter dominated the news cycle for several days. 

Hanoomansingh, the critics chorused, was not objective. 

Fast forward to September 2021! 

Jason Williams, a well-known PNM operative and beaten general election candidate at San Juan-Barataria, is named to host a hard news morning show on CNC3, a primary television station. 

Guardian Media, operators of the TV outfit, does not see any wrong in such hiring, even though the newspaper had roundly condemned the Hanoomansingh employment. 

The Media Association has lost its voice, other urban journalistic hot-shots are turning the other cheek, and there are no damning newspaper editorials. 

The UNC’s announced a boycott of the news programme over the Williams hiring is met with derision by many national movers and shakers, including the usual media bleeding hearts. 

Tony Fraser has gone into the woodworks. 

He is a Guardian columnist. 

It is an indication of the blatant hypocrisy that still bedevils Trinidad and Tobago, including the national media. 

Perception is fact, and Williams would be viewed as partial toward PNM and as carrying a manifest political agenda. 

But clearly what is good for Hanoomansingh is not appropriate for Williams. 

Life in T&T!