With the Christmas season already upon us, many Guyanese from the New York metropolitan region had been mulling returning to their native land in this time of merriment and festivities.
Black cake, ginger beer and garlic pork might be some of the inducements, but on top of the list is the “throwing back” with friends and relatives.
But a quick survey down Liberty Avenue – the heart of little Guyana in Queens New York – reveals that for every one person that decided to take that quick trip “back home”, six others nixed the idea.
Sunita Jaimangal, gave the typical response of those that decided to either stay in New York or go somewhere else “for Christmas”. She had come all the way from New Jersey to shop for Guyanese “things”. She does this weekly.
“I would love to go back to Guyana. I’m from Enterprise and I have so many relatives that I miss too much. But I’m scared of the crime and lawlessness,” She said.
Questioned how she got that impression, she replied, “I been reading the Kaieteur News New York edition for years now, you know. Is every week I see only murders and chopping and rapes and misinformation on their on the front page. I does get so scared”.
The Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) recently denied that tourist arrivals (mostly overseas Guyanese) have fallen off this Christmas season.
But the findings on Liberty Avenue suggest that they might be surprised how many more visitors there could have been, if not for the sensationalist press.
Kaieteur News Publisher Glenn Lall
According to another Guyanese from Brooklyn, New York, the damage done to this country by the Kaieteur News is irreparable.
Negative reporting
Former Tourism Minister Manzoor Nadir said negative reporting on issues in Guyana by certain media houses has had devastating impacts on the country’s economic and tourism development.
In an interview with Guyana Times International on December 17, Nadir said each person may have a different opinion of what negative reporting is, but in his mind, it is the over exaggeration of issues while providing “wrong reasons” for certain occurrences in the country.
He noted that he is not against reporting “something bad” but stated that placing such a news item on the forefront of the newspapers, electronic media and even broadcast media does not sell the country in a positive light.
“If something bad happens and that is reported with respect to what happened, that is not considered bad reporting,” Nadir said.
He continued: “There are some things that are not front page material… some things don’t deserve the kind of attention that they get in the media”. Nadir said negative reporting does create an image, one that says “this is not a country to do business in, this is not a country to visit, whether for the first time or on a return trip”.
Effect on investors
The former Tourism Minister stated that during his many years in the public sector, he experienced several instances where entrepreneurs and visitors alike have expressed much discomfort with either visiting or investing in Guyana, based on media reports carried by certain media houses.
“It builds up over time… a long term image that there are no positives happening in the country and it will detract from having our country being given a very rational reputation,” he told this newspaper.
He noted that many overseas-based Guyanese were actually fearful that they will be robbed, murdered or something bad will occur should they visit Guyana.
However, with much persuasion, some of those very persons visited Guyana and enjoyed their stay, free of any harm.
Speaking specifically on the issue of investors, Nadir said, “The moment there are negative reporting, it drives the country’s risk assessment down”. Visitors, he said contribute a significant amount of revenue to Guyana’s development, “in terms of spending and the multiplier effect”. Nadir said, “I have no doubt that negative reporting – attributing the wrong possible reasons for negative thing that happen— and overemphasising— has an enormous effect on the country… that effect could cripple an economy”.
He urged certain media entities and operatives to be “more responsible” in the manner to which “bad things” are reported and “the kind of prominence we put in placing such stories on front pages”.
Also weighing in on the issue, Captain Gerry Gouveia of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), who is an entrepreneur involved in the tourism industry, said he is not against reporting when bad things happen.
He said that it is his view that “the media must report the news as accurately as they could without sensationalising it”.
Need for balance reporting
Gouveia stressed that a balance needs to be struck between reporting on positive and negative issues. “Don’t create an imbalance… there must be a balance,” he said, noting that the media must have the freedom at all times to report accurately. “I don’t believe in censorship but sensibility,” Gouveia said.
He noted that the impression that the outer world obtains not only hurts Guyana but the entire country and its citizens.
“…the impression would have a consequence on the country … you hurt yourself in the process.” In elaborating the point, the PSC executive said newspapers are supported by the business sector, in that advertisements are placed in the newspapers, and that provides the very news entities with revenues to sustain their operations. Should there be negative reporting, it would therefore mean that the quantity of advertisements received would reduce significantly, and so the solution is “to strike a balance”.
It is estimated that such negative reporting is one of the reasons for the loss of billions of dollars in new investments and in the tourism sector in Guyana.
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