MADEIRA AND CENSORED NEWSDAY REPORT ON AL RAWI

WHAT does newly-honoured media man Jones P. Madeira know of the censoring of Newsday’s reporting on the Attorney General Faris Al Rawi scandal? 

Does Madeira know the senior news person at the daily newspaper who responded to a senior government official and played down the latest story on the public outrage? 

 And did that gagging of the story leave seasoned reporter Jada Loutoo upset at Newsday’s latest capitulation to the PNM Government? 

Loutoo has been following the story, and her article for Saturday’s edition was about the call by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for Al Rawi’s resignation. 

A similar report was the banner lead story in the Express newspaper. 

CounterPunchTT understands that a certain government official asked a Newsday representative to de-emphasise the story, and was denied. 

The top honcho then reached out to a top Newsday official who has long-standing ties to the PNM. 

After the call, the daily newspaper minimised the story. 

CounterPunchTT has reported that Al Rawi has been calling in favours with media and legal associates as a campaign mounts for his removal from Cabinet. 

The AG is said to be sidelined by certain Cabinet colleagues. 

PNM propagandist Rhoda Bharath has been demanding Al Rawi’s resignation. 

As for Madeira, he was recently given an honorary doctorate by the University of Trinidad and Tobago for “worthwhile contribution… in the field of journalism.” 

He is a former editor of Guardian newspaper, which, during his tenure, called a page one lead story, headlined Chutney Rising. 

Then-Prime Minister Basdeo Panday was enraged over the story. 

In a heated public spat, Madeira and others left the Guardian and set up a short-lived daily newspaper, named Independent. 

He later landed as editor of Newsday, whose shareholders are partisans of the PNM.