More than five months after the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s (TTFA) membership demanded details on a secret deal hammered out between president David John-Williams and I95.5FM, the station’s sport trio of Andre Baptiste and brothers Tony Lee and Wayne Lee continue to privately enjoy the patronage of the local …
Read More »Media Monitor: The problem with the T&T media’s World Cup coverage; aite!
The Trinidad Express probably thinks that the World Cup craze is so all-pervasive that they don’t need to bother too much about the rest of the paper. Here is a sentence from last Friday’s Editorial, headlined “Facts the antidote to fake news:” “Evidently hot under the collar, he—the reference was …
Read More »TTFA president gives critics the slip; DJW survives EGM without handing over construction or I95 contracts
“I hereby move a motion to compliment the President for the yeomen effort he has given to advance our beloved game,” said Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTRFA) vice-president Osmond Downer, during last night’s TTFA EGM, “but also censure the President for the way in which he approached the …
Read More »‘Team DJW’ cranks up the heat, as Salazar writes TTFA Board while I95.5 targets Look Loy, Browne, Harford and Tim Kee
I95.5FM sport reporter Andre Baptiste stands accused of operating like a hired gun for beleaguered Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president David John-Williams, as the latter’s attempts to survive an internal enquiry appear to have taken an explosive turn. John-Williams, who was elected to office on 29 November 2015, …
Read More »Unpaid bonuses, fraud accusations and wilful ignorance; the TTFA’s $12 million cases against Hart, Phillips and Futsal
When the Soca Warriors held Guatemala to a 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw at the Hasely Crawford Stadium on 2 September 2016, it not only meant a place in the Concacaf Hex but also a cash windfall of US$1.5 million or TT$10.4 million for the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association …
Read More »Media Monitor: Oh mih Guardian! The Grandma of St Vincent St under an editorial spell?
As the Guardian last week marched into April, something seemed to have been taking place behind the scenes. My suspicion is that, with Shelly Dass now officially fired, someone from the CCN group who knows English has crossed the floor and taken up new responsibilities in the print section of …
Read More »TTFA AGM: DJW struggles to provide answers on Home of Football contracts and “sweetheart” i95.5FM deal
Mysterious construction contracts without Board approval, national football coaches operating without oversight and a secret “sweetheart deal” with i95.5FM were among the controversial revelations yesterday as the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) held a marathon AGM at the Cycling Centre in Couva. There were roughly 45 delegates and board …
Read More »Dear Editor: A veteran media worker points to alleged abuses of power by Fourth Estate
“One late September weekend in 2017, a local TV news anchor ‘switched gears’ to a packaged story about a central Trinidad resident, whose home had been ‘ravaged’ by flooding, never mind he and his family were still living in it. The camera showed scenes of damage as the voice of the homeowner …
Read More »Media Monitor: 4.5 percent disrespectful, i95.5 percent e-literate and 100 percent wrong about Pro League story!
“I know English. Goodbye.” Click. That was how an exchange between i95.5’s Andre E. Baptiste’s exchange with a caller on his Saturday Sports programme ended yesterday evening. Trying to get back on, the caller was immediately cut off. My slave name—thank you, Dr Fergus—is a superlative and I am a …
Read More »Media Monitor: Monogamedia and good, bad and radio/TV voices in their glee
It is Thursday evening on TV6; Shonda Rhimes, Viola Davis and Peter Nowal are getting away with murder. So too is Desha Rambhajan. The 7pm news anchor, easy on the ear and on the air, announces to her listenership that a Sangre Grande man has been charged with six offences, …
Read More »MEDIA MONITOR: Property tax and personal positions before patriotism?
I want to begin with a confession: I voted for the PNM in 2015 and would probably, all things being equal, do so again if an election were called tomorrow. But I am NOT “a PNM.” Nor am I anti-PNM. I think of myself as a patriot. I am, however, …
Read More »MASTER’S VOICE: The genesis of the Syria/ISIS exodus; Gilkes cites verse and chapter
So once again we’ve made international news…And again for reasons we rather we didn’t make de people international news. I mean we crave foreign acknowledgement and validation, but not so, dred. Bright and early Thursday morning, I see on my newsfeed an Al Jazeera story exploring why tiny T&T have …
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