24.5 C
Belize City
Friday, March 29, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

FROM THE PUBLISHER

PublisherFROM THE PUBLISHER


I prefer to use words in a written format, as opposed to the spoken format, because I have more control over the words when I use them in a written format. I have more time to think when I write. I also have the option and opportunity to change what I write, whereas once you have spoken, you cannot take back the words and put them into your mouth. Writing is different from speaking, because one writes alone, whereas speaking is normally done in the company of other people. As a person who is not naturally sociable or gregarious, I prefer writing, because I communicate without having to mingle.


Six months after this newspaper was established, I was tried in the Supreme Court on the charge of having used written and published words with the intent to ridicule the administration of justice in the colony. A jury of nine found me not guilty. They were convinced by my defence lawyers that I was not guilty of the charge of ?seditious conspiracy,? which was the formal charge placed on me by the representatives of the Crown, which is to say, the Queen of England.


Every time Amandala is published, I have to sign two copies of the newspaper for them to be sent to the Attorney General?s office. These signed newspapers are produced in court as evidence when I am charged by the Government of Belize or sued for libel by so-called plaintiffs. As publisher, I am legally responsible for all the words in the Amandala. I don?t write all the words, but I am legally responsible for all the words.


Every week in our newspaper, several people pass their opinions in a written form. These include Russell Vellos, the editor; Adele Ramos, the assistant editor; and columnists such as Selvin Wade (Smokey Joe), Arifah Lightburn, ?Sixes and Sevens?, and so on. In addition, we publish letters from readers who wish their opinions on various matters to reach their fellow citizens by way of the most widely read newspaper in the nation.


The various people who pass their opinions in this newspaper have independent minds, and they have their own perspectives on things. A writer flourishes and blooms when he or she has freedom to think and to write without fear of censorship or repression. So we allow our writers as much freedom as possible, and our readers like that. But legally, I am always liable. I have been tried in the Supreme Court, on different occasions, for an article reproduced from a Mexican newspaper; for an article written by someone who chose to be anonymous; and for an article I thought two senior members of the Bar Association wished for me to write.


Now the words used on KREM Radio and KREM Television are spoken words. Whereas I am the publisher and the sole proprietor of Amandala, KREM Radio is a limited liability company, as is KREM Television. These two businesses have several shareholders each. I am not sure what my personal legal responsibility is as board chairman of KREM Radio and of KREM Television. I am, of course, morally responsible for all the words which are spoken and broadcast on these two public broadcast media.


Among the people who control their own radio shows on KREM and broadcast their own opinions are Mose Hyde, Edgar X Richardson, Virginia Echols/Nzinga Barkley-Waite, Selvin Wade, Tony Wright and Odinga Lumumba. The four panelists on the Kremandala Show (I chair), of course, also pass their own independent opinions.


As in the case of newspaper columnists, radio hosts and commentators function best when they have freedom to be themselves and to express themselves. So this is the climate we have sought to create, so that our radio personalities can inform, entertain and educate.


You will note that in the previous sentence, I did not include ?activate? or ?agitate?. Agitation is a political exercise, and is not considered a part of commercial radio broadcasting.


Early this year, or late last year, I?m not sure, we hired Kenny Morgan, an outstanding music deejay, to work at KREM Radio. The problem was that Morgan had become so politically focused and involved that every morning he would stop playing the music and start making political speeches.


I admire and respect Kenny Morgan greatly, so I gave him space and time to find what I would call equilibrium, for lack of a better word. After a while water finds a level from which to operate, if you know what I mean. Again, our KREM listeners are very sharp, and they monitor and advise people who are on the radio. But time went on, and Morgan was not ceasing or desisting.


So, I spoke to him as follows. I said Kenny, you cannot call someone a ?thief? on public radio unless you can prove it in the Supreme Court. You can believe a person to be a thief; you may even know him to be a thief; and you can say this on the corner of the street. But if you cannot prove it in court, you cannot say it on public radio.


Remember now, this was months before the various financial scandals broke involving government institutions. So, I would say that Kenny Morgan not only knew something, he believed that something to the point where he felt motivated or obligated to speak out publicly. The thing is, the party Morgan supported and supports, had and has its own radio station, so I had to wonder why Kenny was not the featured attraction on WAVE. Why KREM?


Belize is in an even more tense situation than when Kenny Morgan was lashing out earlier this year. Under the present circumstances, for instance, I would have moved more quickly on Kenny. Social Security Board, Development Finance Corporation, BTL/Intelco, the Carnival contract, the waterfront dispute ? all these things ?do so conjointly meet.? And no one has yet been blamed. These days, a lot more people are thinking and talking like Kenny Morgan ?

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International