Rethink that plan, minister!

I am still bewildered by some of the comments made last week by Minister of Information Wilfred Abrahams, who also holds the portfolio of Home Affairs. Speaking at the Department of Emergency Management’s media roundtable at Courtyard by Marriott, Christ Church, he expressed concern about the speed of disseminating critical information. Abrahams stated: “[The Met […]

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I am still bewildered by some of the comments made last week by Minister of Information Wilfred Abrahams, who also holds the portfolio of Home Affairs.

Speaking at the Department of Emergency Management’s media roundtable at Courtyard by Marriott, Christ Church, he expressed concern about the speed of disseminating critical information.

Abrahams stated: “[The Met Office] has indicated that the time frame for us to be able to alert people is becoming shorter and shorter. One of the critical elements of any early warning system is the dissemination of communication through official and reputable sources. If you put up an alert through official channels of an urgent message, how quickly do Barbadians get it? We discovered that after two hours, less than 50 per cent of Barbadians. That’s not good enough.”

He emphasized the need to spread critical information as quickly as gossip: “The same persons who put out the malicious stuff have proven that they can get the information out. They’re not standing on protocols when it comes to getting serious information out, so we have spoken to a number of these people and we have used a number of these sources to get critical information out in a timely manner. At the end of the day, it’s about saving lives.”

For me, this is a slippery slope. While those who spread “malicious” information are not governed by principles, the media is. Our credibility, reliability, and responsibility depend on adherence to these principles. We provide calm and accurate information, especially in emergencies.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the media was embraced as a partner in disseminating credible information. Our role was to inform, educate, and calm the public. We were trusted because we fact-checked and verified information.

The urgency of disseminating critical information, especially during weather systems, cannot compromise accuracy. People trust information based on its source.

Abrahams also mentioned that sometimes urgent messages are treated as nuisances by some media partners.

Read the full article in this week’s edition of On Point by Carol Martindale.

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