Though the political anniversaries that signal the onset of more intense electoral activity in the Caribbean aren’t fully due until next year, the hustings appear never to have faded into the background providing gratuitous leeway for developmental agendas.
In most
instances, such as ours, the campaigning never ended; together with all
associated instincts for division, conflict, and a lack of cohesion.
Note, that
in 2025 there can be as many as nine elections in our region, including sharp contests
right here in T&T, Jamaica, Suriname, and Guyana.
There are
also expected to be contests in St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts and
Nevis, Belize, and Anguilla. Haiti was always a doubtful starter, even when now
exiled prime minister Ariel Henry promised polls next year.
We shall
see how that unfolds now that a Transitional Presidential Council is
in place (following some remarkable work by Caricom) and the domestic and
external games to undermine the Council’s influence and relevance have already been
launched.
It has been
clear that the relationship between media performance and the credibility of
electoral outcomes can always be assumed.
This
applies everywhere else. In Sierra Leone as a Commonwealth observer last year,
for instance, I was assigned specific responsibility for examining media
coverage of the electoral process there, and while there are significant
differences in institutional landscapes, the role of journalists remained key
to how the process unfolded.
It can be
said that ensuing events in that country have hinged heavily on the quality of
coverage of prevailing, lingering conflict by domestic, regional, and
international media.
In Haiti,
at this moment, there is the real threat that the collapse of credible,
independent media will serve to reinforce the already powerful influence of a
hugely compromised public communication landscape.
In the
process, critical concerns related to health, food security, the provision of
social services, the promotion of peace, and the brittle status of marginalised
groups persist outside the frame of consistent, professional media coverage. In
this context, media performance can become a matter of life and death.
Last week,
at a meeting of global press freedom and free expression groups in Berlin, I
joined with ACM President, Harvey Panka, in asserting, among other things, the
urgency of ensuring the viability of existing independent media outlets in
Haiti. This is proving to be a rather tall order, as worst-case scenarios are
not always easily defined.
It is not
always understood that the silencing of journalists is achievable by means
other than violent, deadly attack … as we all know in other necks of the
Caribbean woods.
Violations
of independent reporting occur both through rewards and penalties. There is a
concern, for example, that state advertising can be, and has been, used in the
Caribbean as a tool to achieve the objective of bringing media enterprises in
line with compliant narratives. Corporate entities also employ such methods.
In the
context of elections, I have been an advocate for media enterprises to agree to
transparent accounting requirements when it comes to political campaign spend
by political parties – much of which is absorbed by media companies.
This is not
universally supported within the industry, but I believe it can form part of a
best-practice model when it comes to media practice at times of elections.
There is also need for a wholesome, enlightened discussion around social media.
The
feelings of many practitioners and advocates on such matters form the basis for
a number of interventions with which I have been associated over the years.
For
example, through the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers’ (ACM) Election
Handbook for Caribbean Journalists, published in 2009 and edited by Lennox
Grant and myself, there is guidance on the professional and ethical conduct of
media enterprises and their journalists to assure devoted vigilance and to
insulate themselves from claims of bias.
Nobody
believes such an injunction meets a perfect state of affairs. Media audiences
are, especially through their engagement of social media, becoming far more
capable of detecting deception in the form of mis and disinformation. But not
always.
There is still
a lot more work to be done to meet the deliverables of media and information
literacy.
Social
media engine rooms run by political party operatives in T&T are already up
and running and, in many cases, are easily recognisable. Their role in either
ensuring or undermining the benefits of democratic practice is open for debate
and discussion.
Professional
journalism confronts a stern test as elections approach. Our democracy relies
on its successful navigation of the challenges.
