What a joke.

It’s funny how the press release in Bermuda says that the Premier has struck a deal for Bermudians to get reduced tuition at the Mumbai film school … but the film school’s release says the Bermuda Government has agreed to sponsor tuition for Bermudians to go there.  Hmmm.

It sheds light on the Minister of Tourism’s grasp of the fundamentals of our tourism sector when he opines:

“I am here to encourage Indian film shoots to happen in Bermuda which will help us to promote tourism in Bermuda through Indian cinema.”

I hope that the PLP leadership is ashamed of this little boondoggle.  Nero?

Good Government is about outcomes, not “grip and grin” photo ops.

Witness this report (only covered by the Bermuda Sun, so much for media parity) on the Premier’s meeting with the FCO Under-Secretary responsible for the Overseas Territories.  It sounds fine and dandy, with the Premier telling the UK what’s what.

The Premier also advised the Under-Secretary that his Cabinet and Government are confirmed in their strong belief that the Bermuda Government should have operational responsibility for policing, in addition to budgeting responsibility.

However, in his own release, it appears the Under-Secretary experienced that meeting quite differently:

We also discussed the four former Guantanamo detainees who landed in Bermuda in June. I expressed our anger and profound disappointment at the way the Bermudan government had acted. This action breached the terms of the Bermuda Constitution and the requirement to consult the UK government on matters relating to foreign affairs and security. We agreed that the UK and Bermuda governments would continue to work together to resolve the issue.

Mr. Bookman seems to know a lot about Bermuda’s Premier.

The oddity is that no-one in Bermuda seems to know much about Mr. Bookman.

Indeed, the piece sounds like paid PR.  What’s the connection?

The grand irony is that while so many members of the American elite think Dr. Brown is such a swell guy, his popular support in Bermuda is at an all-time low, dragged down by the constant circus of scandal that surrounds him.

However, most Bermudians don’t concur.

The Rev. Al Sharpton is in Bermuda again and said the following words in support of the Premier:

“If you come out of the ghetto, like I did, you worry afterwards whose mess it was and how it was cleaned up. The main thing is to get the mess cleaned up.”

I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.  To the Americans, the mess is being cleaned up.  But in doing so they have created a massive problem for us.  Thanks guys.

First he goes on the offensive on talk radio, making overtly political statements, which is a big no-no for civil servants. Then he is chosen to throw out the first ball during Bermuda’s big $500,000 sponsorship of the Boston Red Sox.

I chuckle when I hear the PLP caustically describing the Royal Gazette as Bermuda’s Fox News.  Because Glenn’s an alumnus of both!

“if you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes truth”

I am not sure if that’s his accusation or his colleagues’ philosophy.

Take a read of the comments posted by readers.  Here’s a taste:

I can’t recall reading a more intellectually-bereft column in your newspaper than that by David Burt. The current Bermuda Government is the worst (by a country mile) that I can recall in my 20 years of covering Bermuda.   David Marchant Publisher, OffshoreAlert

David Marchant seems to have an instinct for spotting rogues and rascals.  He used to be a reporter in Bermuda and was declared persona non grata by the establishment of the time.  As other doors slammed, he was sponsored for a work permit by none other than Dr. Ewart Brown, presumably hoping to fan the flames.  Again, Bermuda has zippo degrees of seperation.

Yes, on Facebook.  Which is so well known as a platform for public policy, honesty, and critical thinking.

Given the shallowness of the spin, Twitter may be better suited for his purpose.  Sum up the spin in 140 characters or less!  Think of what you can accomplish in that!

“The UBP did it first”  (20 characters)

“We had to deceive you” (22 characters)

“That’s a plantation question” (28 characters)

“If I called that member a racist dog. You see it is the dog that matters.”  (73 characters)

“God save our Gracious Me, Long live our Noble Me”  (48 characters)

The level of dishonesty and cynicism is pretty sad.

See also commentary from Starling.

More trouble in paradise for the staff of Bermuda’s Royal Gazette and its sister newspaper, the Mid-Ocean News, after premier Ewart Brown bizarrely responded to their campaign for more government transparency and a freedom of information law — by trying to cut their access to government spokesmen…

Ludicrous as the strategy reads, it’s seen as further evidence of Brown’s frustration at the failure of his bid to silence the papers’ criticism by stopping their state advertising and subscription deals in March 2008.

This kind of ‘soft censorship’ is common across the Americas and the Caribbean, and roundly condemned by press freedom activists and by constitutional lawyers.

“Government discrimination in the placement of advertising is an act of indirect coercion that is contrary to freedom of speech,” ruled Argentina’s Supreme Court when seeing off a similar bid by a provincial government to block a critical paper.

Free Speech Blog

See also the Guardian’s Media Blog.

The situation is also met by the unsual situation of Bermuda’s Human Rights Commission needing to seeking guidance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“The HRC is considering whether the order issued by the Premier, if true, is an infringement of freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the Bermuda Constitution, the European Convention of Human Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

The situation is wrong.  We all know it’s wrong.  And it’s a sad comment that the HRC needs to seek “political cover” from outside of Bermuda’s overwrought atmosphere to say that it’s wrong.

“Cutting reporters and their news outlets out of government communications — whether it’s not sending them press releases or refusing to return reporters’ calls — is simply foolish. It doesn’t keep reporters from covering news and events, it doesn’t encourage productive dialogue between officials and news media, and it flies in the face of the basic tenets of open government. It’s proven time and again to be an ineffective public relations strategy, and it’s a completely misguided way to conduct government in the sunshine.”

The Premier complains:

“Recently I spoke with the press secretary he said a senior reporter told him that he doesn’t care what Glenn Jones has to say because his, the press secretary’s, comments are rarely newsworthy anyway, I think that that’s a toxic environment … We have decided to reduce the contact because we are not getting anywhere through the relationship.”

It’s not a relationship … it’s an obligation!  In my opinion, if the environment is toxic, it is largely the result of the Premier’s own footwork.  Moreover, anyone who reads Glenn Jones’ comments knows that they are often the epitome of spin.  Do they contain facts and meaningful Government information, or mere puffery?

“Today, I lend my voice of support and admiration to all those brave men and women of the press who labour to expose truth and enhance accountability around the world. In so doing, I recall the words of Thomas Jefferson:

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

President Barack Obama celebrating World Press Freedom Day on May 3 …

Controversial Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown has chosen to celebrate the event slightly differently.

Who do you trust more to tell the truth:  government or newspapers?

He informed the newspapers that his move was designed “to reduce the rancour and lower the toxicity that have become the norm”.

This, to put it bluntly, is sign of power and control run amok.  It puts the Premier’s personal feelings above Government’s responsibilities.

It is also in direct contravention with many international standards on press freedom.  For example, from the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), a wing of the OAS whose hospitality the Premier has enjoyed:

Prior censorship, direct or indirect interference in or pressure exerted upon any expression, opinion or information transmitted through any means of oral, written, artistic, visual or electronic communication must be prohibited by law. Restrictions to the free circulation of ideas and opinions, as well as the arbitrary imposition of information and the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of information violate the right to freedom of expression.

The exercise of power and the use of public funds by the state, the granting of customs duty privileges, the arbitrary and discriminatory placement of official advertising and government loans; the concession of radio and television broadcast frequencies, among others, with the intent to put pressure on and punish or reward and provide privileges to social communicators and communications media because of the opinions they express threaten freedom of expression, and must be explicitly prohibited by law. The means of communication have the right to carry out their role in an independent manner. Direct or indirect pressures exerted upon journalists or other social communicators to stifle the dissemination of information are incompatible with freedom of expression.

This is yet another sad comment on Bermuda’s governance and maturity.

It’s also counterproductive.  With the growing dissent and disasatisfaction in our community, details that run counter to the official spin inevitably leak out to the media.  By restricting official communication, the Premier is disabling Government’s ability to get its perspective across.  This move will simply fuel the growing questions about the Premier’s leadership and the PLP’s willingness to be associated with such heavy handed measures.

It’s indicative of the growing fixation with control and spin in our Government, following the cutting off of official advertising in the Royal Gazette, Government’s lavishly funded CITV mouthpiece, the threat of a punitive Press Council, and the hints of a possible PLP-affiliated newspaper.

I’d be remiss in not pointing out that many international organisations have already protested the Premier’s earlier rough handling of the local media. These include the  International Press Institute, Association of Caribbean Media Workers, the Index on Censorship, the UK Press Gazette, Reporters Without Borders, IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression eXchange, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), Sunshine Week/ American Society of Newspaper Editors, the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, and Caribbean Net News, and The Guardian.

And I can’t resist commenting that, while the Premier may hate the newspapers, he is an avid reader.  I often sit behind GP1 in traffic to see him in the back seat comfortably engrossed in his morning Royal Gazette.