Professor Ramesh Deosaran (Emeritus), acting President & Programme Professor, Institute for Criminology and Public Safety at UTT was the feature speaker at the 25th Anniversary Awards Function of the Tobago Newspapers Limited at the Mount Irvine Bay Hotel last week Thursday. Speaking on "The Politics of a Free Press" Professor Deosaran said:

Press freedom is always a work in progress. As it seeks to serve a multi-party, multi-sectoral democracy like ours, its business is never finished, never settled mainly because it is always at the centre of controversy and tensions.

Most of society's social and political tensions are played out in the free press, and quite often, the role and motivation of the press are called into question, sometimes by the courts. The press thrives on conflict but it inevitably searches for equilibrium so as to move onto a new story. Its work is always in progress.

In the Westminster system of government, the more powerful the ruling majority is, the more vigilant and robust should the free press be, not to disrespect the duly elected majority but, knowing what political power easily does and repeatedly has done to its possessors, a government sometimes has to be saved from itself, from its own excesses. And so too should the press give a voice to the weak and the marginalised where much of society's virtues are often found. Even the voice of one should find a place in the realm of a free press. In fact, that is why the press should be free. I have always said, at least to myself, that I fear no man, no politician, as long as I know I live in a country with a fair and free press.

You now function in a very peculiar political situation in Tobago. Your policy states in part: "This paper is one of independence but commits itself to supporting the duly elected representatives of the Tobago House of Assembly and the Government of the day, so long as we are satisfied that their actions are "in the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago." These two underlined words are the key; the rest is unnecessary.

You have in Tobago two Ministers from the People's Partnership Central Government, one in particular, mandated to look after the "Development of Tobago." Now you already have a PNM-controlled Tobago House of Assembly which under its governing Act is largely empowered to do just that, with of course, some narrow exceptions such as National Security. This situation spells sharpened, noisy political conflict ahead. This is where your everyday judgment, balance and fairness as an independent media must come into play. But I worry sometimes that in seeking balance, the facts get squeezed out. Not every story has two equally valid sides.

The job of a free and brave press (print, radio and television) is also to find the facts as far as possible and publish for the public interest. Should the facts prevail over giving equal space, or do opinions of any kind deserve equal space?

In this sense, I see very challenging days ahead for the Tobago media. You will be tested for fairness and facts on a daily basis mainly because the competition for political credibility and electoral support will become more crucial in Tobago than it has been before, even more than when the Democratic Action Congress, Hochoy Charles and Morgan Job were at the centre. Complaints will rise about fairness, not publishing stories, sometimes about treating the Minister less importantly than the THA Secretary, etc., etc.

This challenge naturally requires hard work and resources. I remember over 20 years ago, when we had to use ECO forms to get foreign currency, a certain businessman was charged for making false ECO claims by using a dummy company based at a certain specific address in Miami. And for several days, this story went back and forth, one side alleging, the other side denying that there is indeed such an address and dummy company. To my mind, I wondered why didn't at least one section of the media travel to Miami, take a picture and publish it. Show the facts instead of printing one opinion after another.

Of course, with two Ministers, Chief Secretary and a group of other Secretaries, the Tobago News and its media alliance will be assured of information every day. But of course, all of this will certainly not be news. And this is where the trouble will start.

Now we in this country live at a time when our State institutions, from the Courts, the Police to our Parliament, are suffering from a regrettable loss of public confidence. It will be a great pity if our media as a whole, or even if significant parts of it, suffer a similar loss of public confidence. Our democracy will then stand on weak legs. It is already a tragedy that some sections from our electronic media in particular have used crassness to command narrow market segment over and above the more noble principle of responsible journalism.

It is for this reason that not only should the free and fair press publish with sharp, balanced and defensible discernment, but be robust enough to demand from other institutions and its own fraternity a level of performance and accountability that will build public confidence overall. It is for such reasons too that over the years, in the Westminster system of adversarial politics, the free press has been seen as, and in fact has rightfully taken on the role of the people's watchdog, watchdog even over elected politicians. A free press is the vehicle on which our democracy travels.

Finally, let me briefly refer to three dilemmas facing the press on a daily basis: The media policy of fairness and revelation vs the need for advertising, especially from Government and business. Business is easier since it may be only one business house.

The use of the anonymous source especially for hot stories, for example, "Eddie Hart for PP platform", "MPs for Manning". The solution: use at least two independent sources.

Accuracy vs bias. Factual corrections are easy. But with the accepted doctrine of "the unfettered right to publish," how can bias be established, treated and corrected? For this and the need for established media ethics, there is need for a well established tribunal framed through a Government-Media partnership. If I check it out I will lose the story, so you publish something today knowing it also makes news again tomorrow with a correction.

What such dilemmas help illustrate is the tough job of the press and the extent to which it has to put up a daily struggle to fulfill its very noble mandate, but knowing that the struggle is also one which provides immense professional pride and public service. There are times the public, some sections at least, may not like you, but in the end it is far better that they respect you. The media's job is not to please everybody every time, but, in its news pages and editorials especially, to get the story right, the facts right for the right principle, while allowing for the right to reply. How else can you serve the voiceless, the weak and the poor?

Let me once again congratulate you on a well deserved 25th Anniversary.