TTT THE $M PNM PLAYTHING

WITHIN days of the election of the Rowley Government in 2015, Maxie Cuffie, as Communications Minister, called a meeting of heads of various companies under his watch. 

State broadcaster, Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG), was the first organisation to get a new board of directors, and company chair Helen Drayton had not yet kicked me out.  

At the meeting, Cuffie asked me about advertising returns during the just-held general election, and I told him CNMG had received full payments. 

“You mean you have bookings?” he suggested. 

“No, we insisted on prepayments for all political broadcasts.” 

It was easy to appreciate why Cuffie did not expect a settlement of election broadcast charges. 

The PNM, you see, had an outstanding $800,000 bill for the 2010 election campaign, which it had declined to honour despite our correspondences to Balisier House.    

CNMG had not paid a Miami-based broadcast firm that was retained to provide a link to a FIFA conference at which Jack Warner was vilified. 

The State media firm had, in 2007, booked the final pre-election broadcast with Congress of the People – but then aired the PNM rally. 

COP filed legal action; we negotiated a financial settlement out of court. 

A PNM operative – a heavy-roller in the current administration – was paid a significant monthly sum to spew propaganda on drive-time radio. 

And so on. 

In other words, the State broadcaster was a political plaything of the PNM, soaking up annual taxpayer-funded subventions, on top of the $111 million capital expenditure to resuscitate the company. 

Against that backdrop, it is not difficult to reconcile the brand-new revelation by opposition firebrand Dr. Roodal Moonilal that PNM is receiving free political broadcasts. 

In contrast, all political programmes during my time were paid for in advance.
Notably, the Rowley Government carried out two investigations after my departure, one a forensic study. 

Over the past seven years, taxpayers have propped up the State broadcaster to the tune of $140 million, even though a survey found the station attracts fewer viewers than Tobago’s Channel 5. 

Within weeks of the PNM’s return, the company spent $253,000 on a study on the path forward and then revived the sentimental Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) brand, which had earlier been laid to rest with a generation of viewers. 

But the government was clear about TTT’s purpose. 

Donna Cox, who succeeded Cuffie as Communications Minister, spoke of “TTT being able to showcase the work of the government.” 

Then-company chair Lisa Agard said the broadcaster must be “a single source of truth for government’s effort and policies.” 

Truth be told, State media has always been where journalism goes to die since there could be no rigorous investigation, the hallmark of any dynamic newsroom. 

The discussions which led to restoration of the TTT title also decided on “cessation of news production.” 

But the broadcaster dutifully prepares daily propaganda bulletins for its minuscule audience, at an annual cost to taxpayers of $20 million, even as old age pensioners cannot receive better allowances. 

Since its nationalisation, the State media company has bled taxpayers, and I found little business vigour among the staff, secure that all bills would be paid. 

A four-part investigative report in the business section of a daily newspaper revealed the best financial performance was between 2011 and 2015. 

As part of the broadcaster’s service, the team with which I worked provided extensive coverage of the various cultural activities of our diverse land. 

The PNM reverted to stodgy programming, including dishing out $1 million for a few movies, for which there were no advertising returns. 

In a fast-evolving industry in which traditional television is dying – in 2020 alone, 25 per cent of American households cancelled their subscriptions – there is no appreciable audience or commercial future for TTT. 

But the costly agency remains a propagandist for the government, which it routinely commandeers for broadcasts and as a production house. 

There is no justification for the recurring hefty cost of a taxpayer-funded broadcaster or for holding onto valuable uptown properties. 

But don’t expect the plug to be pulled on TTT.