5/15/2009 1:23:00 PM The sly tactics of Bermuda's Fox News
David Burt Guest columnist
Like Fox News in the United States and The Sun in Great Britain, Bermuda's Royal Gazette and Mid-Ocean News are less newsgathering organizations and more proponents of a particular point of view.
The partisan billionaire behind Fox News and The Sun, Rupert Murdoch, has a lot in common with Royal Gazette boss Bill Zuill and his sidekick, Mid-Ocean News head Tim Hodgson. All three men have vast amounts of unchecked power. They have created bully pulpits used to set national conversations. They have strong partisan convict-
ions and a particular point of view.
And, perhaps most troubling, all three are fully entrenched in their power and largely unaccountable to the community, the voters and the public interest.
In October, Barack Obama had this to say about America's version of The Royal Gazette: "If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me, right? Because the way I'm portrayed 24/7 is as a freak!" Replace watching with reading, Fox News with The Royal Gazette and change the quote author from Barack Obama to Ewart Brown, and those words ring equally true.
Let's set the record straight. Premier Brown, the party and the government have plenty of contact with The Royal Gazette and the Mid-Ocean News. They continue to receive the same press releases that are issued to all other local news outlets. And, the Government continues to respond to questions from The Royal Gazette and the Mid-Ocean News. The use of the term "gag" is misleading, erroneous and conjured up by a sensationalist, partisan newsroom that conjured up the loyalty oath lie.
How they spin it
Spearheaded by Minister David Burch, a press statement was drafted in support of the Premier. This was similar to the press statement issued by the Central Committee and the PLP Executive. One anonymous source seeking to inflict political damage on the Premier falsely defined the statement as an oath. The Bermuda Sun responsibly reported that fact. The Royal Gazette ran with the lie of one anonymous source as the gospel truth. Even after they were shown documentation showing the nature of the press statement, they continued to push the loyalty oath lie. The Royal Gazette's use of the loyalty oath lie is quite reminiscent of the lie Fox News promoted when they alleged that Barack Obama was educated in a madrassa.
The tactics of the combined opposition were laid bare in the most recent loyalty oath lie. Here's how it worked. The Royal Gazette did one round of stories on the lie. Then, the UBP issued an attack statement based on that lie. That prompts another round of news stories. Then, once we set the record straight, The Royal Gazette has the opportunity to rehash the entire story, repeating the lie once again.
It seems like The Royal Gazette is following the lead of propagandists who say "if you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes truth".
After all the partisanship and the sensationalism, all we want to do is call a spade a spade. We're not denying Bill Zuill and Tim Hodgson the right to broadcast their opinions under the guise of news. We just want Bermudians to realise that The Royal Gazette and the Mid-Ocean News are Bermuda's version of Fox News. Unfair and unbalanced.
David Burt is chairman of the PLP.
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Comment by:
Robert Bryce
"If you tell a lie long enough it becomes truth" is a well known phrase to Mr Burt. In the RG today (ironic he uses the hated RG to spread his message) he says a UBP vote against the gambling bill is against cruise ships in Hamilton and St George's. Typical spin! Where was the PLP outcry when the Rosie O'Donell Gay Cruise ship diverted due to protests? Who took away the slot machines from the bars on Front Street, depriving them of income? Let's look after Bermudians - shut down local businesses then pass a law to allow foreign visitors, but not locals, to do the very same? That bill is only the beginning of the introduction of gambling to Bermuda, almost certainly owned and controlled by the new "family". So much for the ideals of the founders of the PLP.
Posted: Friday, May 22, 2009
Comment by:
Broseph
Brown =/= Obama
Not in any reality.
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Comment by:
Truth
David,
I am afraid that you are a victim of the PLP bubble. If and when you break free of it, you will regret that this article was ever penned with your name attached to it. The ideas that he is arrogant, he doesn't listen to the public nor those in his own party are rampant and are grounded, not in tales of the RG but in a very poor example by our Premier. If you were able to dialigue more with those who are not in the party but also those who do not have an agenda you would see that the people who supported this Government, have been let down to a great degree and are angry and disappointed not only in the leadership but by the lack of leadership shown by almost all of the other elected officials. He is damaging the reputation of the Country as evidenced by David Marchants comments. Everyone sees it but our MP's are wearing blinders, I believe, because they lack the moral courage to stand up to this political bully. Nevertheless, we have to live and work here and it is incumbent on all of us to protect what we have ..even if it is from our own Premier. Spin may (or may not) win an argument or deflect from the main thrust of an argument but spin does not put food on the table.
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Comment by:
dumbfounded
Please never, ever compare Ewart Brown to Barack Obama ever again. I could not think of a bigger insult to Mr. Obama.
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Comment by:
bob
Mr Burt, you have been measured and found wanting.
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Comment by:
David Marchant
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
Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2009
Comment by:
Newyorker
Hey, let's do what you friend Hugo Chavez does, and simply have the PLP control the media.
Yes, let's do away with all this pesky independent journalism, poking their noses into things.
Posted: Saturday, May 16, 2009
Comment by:
Sticks
David Burt refers to the expression "if you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes truth". The PLP have been creating and repeating the lie for 11 years, and regretably the voters have been believing it. Even now what is the truth about the "oath". I am sure that David Burt's version is equally unbelievable. What is believable is that Ewart Brown probably did demand some sort of loyalty 'committment'. It certainly matches his style of "the Man that would be King".
Posted: Friday, May 15, 2009
Comment by:
Robert Bryce
What a ridiculous piece! David Burt, the master of spin, complaining about the RG and MON for spin. Whilst pathetic it is a showpiece for why Bermuda is headed down the road to join the other Caricom members in poverty and squalor. Nothing will improve until Bermuda elects a Bermudian, not an American (check the facts when EB was elected as an MP), as its Premier.
Posted: Friday, May 15, 2009
Comment by:
Brian
There is an easy way to get past bad media to the truth. Government Transparency. If the government does not give us the truth then all we have are the "lies" of the media.
