There should be a change of leadership and editorial policy at the Chronicle and NCN--Dr. David Hind

By Dr. David Hinds

I am opposed to any wholesale dismissal of members and supporters of the PPP from the Public Service. There should be no witch-hunting. But there are exceptions in my book--like the State media. Of all the blatant over-reach by the PPP government, the rape of the state media was among the most obscene. But the government could not do what it did at those media houses without the overt and covert cooperation of the staff, especially the senior management and editorial leadership. What they did at the Chronicle and NCN was as grievous as the widespread corruption.

I do not see how the culture of those media can be fundamentally changed with the same leadership in place. In this regard there should be a change of leadership and policy to administer and reflect an inclusive national agenda for the agencies.

I would clean house at NCN Television and Radio and the Chronicle. Some heads must roll. The editors must definitely go. So too must the General Managers.

The columnists who wrote those nasty columns in the Chronicle must go. Those reporters who blatantly editorialized rather than report the stories must go. The other journalists who allowed themselves to be bullied by the PPP should be read the riot act.

Those PPP ghost writers who used the pages of the Chronicle to malign opponents of the PPP should be banned forthwith. The bans on letters to the editor from known opponents of the PPP should be lifted.

There should be equal and fair coverage for all political parties. Each parliamentary party--PNC, PPP, AFC, WPA, NFA, JFA and GAP—should be offered a weekly column in the Chronicle and a minimum of 30 minutes airtime on NCN Television and Radio.