Editorial – November 22, 2013 :
While searching our own archives for information, it was sure surprising to find that The Montserrat Reporter complained of problems it continues to experience from as far back as 1996. So much has changed, so much advancement has taken place, and whereas those knowlegeable and concerned enough will say, purpose well served.
We recapture just a bit of an Editorial written on October 25, 1996, now 17 years and one month in three days ago.
“The only “print” press in Montserrat, in addition to the many constraints it faces, suffers from the kinds of problems that put it back, way back in time.
“It may be true there were those times when the Reporter being managed by a political party sought to deal mostly with highlighting the wrongs as it saw it. Over the past two years under new management, as it grapples with the difficulty of making the publication viable to meet its legal debts, it has been referred to by some as ‘the Government newspaper; while government officials, at the same time accused it of not saying good about government.”
It continues under the same management from June 1994. And only one thing has changed, the legal debt dwindled primarily because of the volcano and the creditor, to be kind, we’ll say probably softened. We can reveal the interesting details later. The other accusations from politicians and government officials have worsened in that they set out to starve its existence.
The following hasn’t changed and we would argue the above, has gotten worse.
“On top of all this, the newspaper has had to deal with a type of ignorance which would be laughed at and scorned by any other country claiming to be half developed as we would like to believe we are. There are those who think of radio (Radio ZJB) our government radio station, as the only news media.
If you ask the question, ‘is it really ignorance that causes this?’ The answer an easy ‘no’! But so many are afraid that their very ignorance, incompetence and injustice may be exposed.”
The Editorial went on the describe some incidents to justify some of the statements. We will stop there for now.
In that same issue of Oct. 25, 2006 we found some interesting observations. It was only weeks away from the 2006 November elections which was one of the more interesting elections since the crisis began in 17 months before.
A columnist at the time had some interesting questions, advice and observations to make. We found the following interesting and will re-visit the article in time. With elections around the corner at the time, here are some excerpts: –
“Ask your self what selfish candidate will seek roads for only his or her constituency when ALL constituencies are clearly in need of roads?”
“Are not the opponent candidates and their supporters people of Montserrat? Should they be excluded from the respect and promises that these candidates give their own supporters?”
The observation we make, is that there is plenty of relevance in these statements or questions today. When the next election rolls around, some of the voters would have been only one to two years old in 1996, depending when they register now.
They might learn some important things.
