There is always a gap between perception and reality. Communicators have to operate within that space trying to narrow the gap and strengthen their intended message. The government opted to use moral suasion to get citizens to stay at home, but a drive or walk through neighbourhoods, towns and cities …
Read More »AG: UNC not ‘vindicated’ in Cambridge scandal; UNC: Stop using gov’t resources for PNM propaganda
“[…] In the discharge of my responsibilities as the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, in Trinidad and Tobago, I extend caution against any premature revelry at the pause in the criminal investigation into the matters involving and/or surrounding the Cambridge Analytica fiasco…” The following are press statements from …
Read More »Noble: Writers must read too; why Baldeosingh misunderstands Black Power movement
Stephen King, the famed writer, once said: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others, read a lot and write a lot.” It is a pity that several in our community do the second and not the first. But beyond that, book publishing …
Read More »Rowley: Trinidad is not a real place; Griffith: TTPS ‘doesn’t operate on emotion’—Cambridge Analytica probe called off
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley appeared to respond with sarcasm as Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith declared today that the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) has closed investigations into the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Cambridge Analytica, a controversial now bankrupt British consultancy firm, were accused—by former employee turned whistleblower, Christopher …
Read More »MSJ: ‘Backward and opportunistic!’ Kamla’s UNC is acting like T&T’s ‘fifth column’
“[…] It is the view of the MSJ that the UNC’s position makes them unfit for being the government of Trinidad and Tobago since they will turn us into a semi-client state of the US. We need not state the obvious—we pass the stage when we had a governor, long …
Read More »Daly Bread: Gov’t must do more for ‘working poor’ who suffer most from pandemic
If anyone had cared to pay attention before Covid-19, they would know that life is a daily hustle for a significant number of citizens. These citizens have no employer and they are usually poor. There are also a significant number of citizens who have an employer but, in the absence …
Read More »World Press Freedom Day: Shrinking T&T media faces greatest challenge in Covid-19
“[…] The health crisis is exacerbating longstanding tensions between the institution of the free press and governments here and around the world. Authoritarian impulses, single-source information flow, privacy incursions, political polarisation, hostility towards the media and shrinking resources in the wake of Covid-19, which will further impoverish the quality of …
Read More »Moonilal: We’re not with PM on Venezuela gasoline drama; FITUN: Opposition MP is ‘cowardly and desperate’
MP Dr Roodal Moonilal: “[…] I was of the view that, if true, this assistance rendered [by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley] to the regime of Nicolas Maduro… was an affront to the community of free nations and further posed a risk that Trinidad and Tobago could be met with …
Read More »Raffique Shah: ‘Black power’ and Indians; when flowering racial unity sparked a revolution
The following column was written by Raffique Shah on 9 June 2000: IN 1970, I was the only Indian officer in the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment. I was also the youngest officer, having graduated from Sandhurst in July 1966, some four months after I had turned 20. When I returned …
Read More »Baldeosingh: Black Power’s gains were overstated
“[…] Another key claim that NJAC always makes is that, because of Black Power, banks were forced into hiring non-white persons. It is true that, after the 1970 protests, banks did diversify their hiring practices. But […] this was just an acceleration of a process that had already started…” In …
Read More »Gilkes: Thank god Raffique was a dreamer; Commissioner missed the 1970 elephant—clean
The letter penned by the Commissioner of Police condemning the valorising of the army mutineers of 1970 brought to the surface several important issues. One such issue is the fact that, even in tiny countries like this one, it is entirely possible to live in an insulated space with little …
Read More »An ‘exceptionally difficult’ year! Imbert on salary grants, public aid and ‘recalibrated’ budget
“[…] Trinidad and Tobago is not only impacted by the economic consequences of Covid-19; but as an oil-and-gas exporting country, the economic, financial and social consequences have been further compounded by the dramatic drop in oil and gas prices. The worldwide demand for crude oil has crashed in the context …
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