4/18/2008 10:43:00 AM MP says new job will tell him 'what's really going on'
Meredith Ebbin
Government MP Ashfield DeVent is back on the beat—as a court reporter at VSB. He has been pulled back into service at VSB following the retirement of veteran newsman Bryan Darby. Mr. DeVent, 50, a former Works and Engineering Minister, had not planned on returning to his old job, but agreed to take it when VSB owner Kenneth DeFontes came calling. “I enjoy news,” he said. “It keeps you in touch with what’s going on. Being in court really keeps you in touch with what’s going on in the community.” Not that staying in touch is that difficult for Mr. DeVent, 50, who is known as a grassroots MP. His Pembroke South East constituency takes in Court Street, where he lives. Re-elected Mr. DeVent, who was re-elected to Parliament in December, has been an MP since 2002, when he won a seat in a by-election. He had been covering the courts for VSB at the time, and continued in the position until he became a Cabinet Minister. He was Works and Engineering Minister from January 2004 to October 2005. His career as a court reporter evolved out of a talk show he hosted on VSB with Ceola Wilson. Mr. DeFontes asked him whether he thought he could cover the courts and he agreed to try it out. “The rest is history,” he said. He admits that his return is a reflection of the shortage of journalists in Bermuda. Replacements are being lined up in the wake of Mr. Darby’s departure two weeks ago and “the newsroom is still finding its way.” He also has to get up to speed with changes in technology that have been put in place in the years he has been away from the radio microphone. But he said: “That’s something I enjoy. I’m a bit of a computer nerd at home.” Mr. DeVent will be covering Supreme Court, and Magistrates Court on the odd occasion. He will be working four days a week, from 9 am to 2 pm. On Fridays, he will head to the other side of the Sessions House to take his seat in Parliament. Does he feel being a Government MP presents a conflict? He says not, and points to the many examples of politicians in media, from Senators Thaao Dill and David Burch at HOTT radio to VSB cricket commentator C.V. “Jim” Woolridge, a former tourism minister in the UBP government. He also said both Quinton Edness and Mr. Woolridge worked at ZBM when they were government ministers. Mr. DeVent said there is little chance of “straying from the truth” as a court reporter and if he does, he will have to answer to the judge. He said: “Covering the courts is what the news should be, the truth.”
