Fighting crime…one story at a time

By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

SKNVibes.com reporter Ryan Hass

A group of around 20 media practitioners sat down at that consultation and shared their perspectives on this difficult question, and as the selected media spokesperson it was my job to compile this information into a coherent consensus.

Sounds like a simple enough task until you realise that the term ‘media professional’ covers a wide variety of journalistic perspectives and political persuasions that have been at odds with one another for decades in St. Kitts-Nevis. We had roughly an hour to reach this magical understanding.

One point that was eventually agreed upon, however, was that the media must be more responsible in the way crimes are reported. “What exactly does that mean?” one may ask.

There was one media person that actually said by reporting murders and crime as the top stories in the independent media we were engaging in “a conspiracy against the government” and that crime should actually be reported in the back pages where tourists would not be likely to see it. He did not seem alone in this view either, though other members of the group did not use such flamboyant language.

To persons who would make such claims, I am sorry to inform you that the word ridiculous is more than an understatement. It is our responsibility as journalists to give an accurate account of life in St. Kitts-Nevis, not to sell rooms on cruise ships and tickets on airplanes.

To bury stories as these folks are suggesting is not only an unethical journalistic practice, it trivialises the tragedies that are currently taking place. Would you tell reporters in the United States to keep quiet and hope for the best on the failing economy?

Would you tell the people of India that terrorist attacks in Mumbai should be hush-hush, lest the world get the wrong impression?

Would you tell the family and friends of Randy ‘Robby’ Scott (latest victim) that his death warrants nothing more than a final page footnote so hoteliers and taxi operators can make a few extra dollars this year?

I would go as far as to say that if the media did not give the importance they do to crime and national security issues, there never would have been a National Consultation on Crime in the first place. ~~Adz:Right~~

So, burying stories is not the correct approach, but again we return to our question of how can the media be more responsible in there reporting?

The cessation of sensationalism on issues like crime must come to an end was one area I think the media can agree upon.
I would not imply, as some did at the consultation, that media practitioners somehow get pleasure and fulfillment out of reporting on violent crime because it “sells more papers”.

Every journalist I know dreads nothing more than receiving calls at 3:00 a.m. to play witness to yet another horrific shooting death, but it is our job and sometimes we have to see things we would rather not.

To imply that the media are some sort of’ heartless blood-and-guts paparazzi’ is basically to say that we have somehow lost our sense of humanity. I can say in all honesty that this is not true.

That being said, many times the graphic details of a murder scene end up being reported too honestly and too directly, which could be seen as sensationalism. We, as media professionals, must be more aware of what is necessary and what is unnecessary to a story as we do our part to help stem crime and violence in the Federation.

It was also agreed upon at the consultation that the media should make more of a concerted effort to report on how crime and violence ruin the lives of those involved.

Tell the story of the mother who weeps on her murdered son’s birthday. Tell the story of the girlfriend whose child no longer has a father. Tell the story of the repentant gangbanger who wastes away in the prison and wishes he had made different choices with his life.

During our discussions the importance of a closer relationship between the media and the security forces was heavily stressed. Police officers at a crime scene must clearly understand the rights of the media to be there and should have a public relations person present at all times to field questions and give appropriate information, rather than seeing journalists as the enemy.

The recent unlawful arrest of SKNVibes’ own Stachio Williams because he was taking a photograph over 35 feet away from the cordoned area of a crime scene indicates how far relations between the security forces and the media have degraded.

~~Adz:Left~~
Many times curious bystanders take photographs with phones or cameras just because they can, yet we have never heard of any individual being arrested for “obstruction of Police duties”. How could the journalist have obstructed anyone from across a street amidst many onlookers?

To assist the media in improving the way they report on crime and there relationship with the community’s various stakeholders, it was suggested that the St. Kitts-Nevis Media Association be revitalised.

While one political pundit ludicrously stated at the consultation that Media Association President Clive Bacchus only created the organisation to protect himself some four years ago because of an immigration dispute, I would suggest that the real truth of the matter is that it is a tremendously arduous task and no one seems to want to tow the line.

A media association is only as strong as its members and to blame its shortcomings on one man is childish, ignorant and completely disregards the culpability of every single media person in this Federation.

In these trying times the media have a responsibility more than ever to fulfill their duty as truth-tellers and protectors of public interests. We must put aside what we can of our different perspectives and speak with one voice against the crime and violence that have cost so many lives. Let the media be the first example of how people can put aside their differences for the greater good.

To this end, I urge President Bacchus to call on me, as he sees fit, to assist in making the media association a more active entity in St. Kitts-Nevis, and I hope any fellow media professional reading this would be willing to make the same pledge, thus doing our part to end this tragic chapter in St. Kitts-Nevis history before it gets any worse.