Vexed Bermoothes

I don’t get it. Some folks are uncomfortable because the Royal Gazette and “anti-PLPers online” are supporting the public access to information law.

It says a lot about local expectations that people should stay in their box.

True, the local media should have provided more analysis in 2005 when the PATI briefing was first distributed. It is likely that the project would not have slid into obscurity as it did.

It is also true that the local media should take more interest in all laws that are proposed in our legislature. Too often the public has no exposure to the actual form of laws before they are placed in front of Parliament – and the media rarely provides more than a cursory note of their passage.

• The Government is foregoing its responsibility to made laws available to the broader public before they hit the House. Many governments make effective use of the internet for this exposure and collection of public comment.
• And the media is foregoing its responsibility to provide independent analysis and explanation of the laws – rather than just muted coverage of the stageplay in the House.