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Dear Sir,

I read with amusement your columnist Mr. Vesey's contribution published [March 28]. In the course of unwittingly making the case for the Government's shift away from print advertising and the bizarre taxpayer-funded subsidy of The Royal Gazette's revenue base, Mr. Vesey says that the action means "Bermudians are getting less news, and less accurate news, about the running of their country".

That suggestion is simply laughable. The Royal Gazette has been accused of many things, but I cannot ever recall it being convicted of accuracy. Their last decade of coverage has been a study in distortion and Opposition-fuelled agendas. Now that their last, best effort from 2nd November - 18th December has failed miserably we are treated to a campaign that tells us that we don't know enough and that we need to know more.

I for one am sick of seeing press conferences and announcements about every blade of grass preserved by this Government. I know more now than I care to know! I would much prefer that they get down to work and tell me when it's done.

Mr. Vesey should know that as with most things, the Bermuda experience is completely different. If the Daily Telegraph mounts a campaign against something or someone and it finds no favour at the breakfast table, one need only pick up the Guardian, the Times or perhaps even the Sun.

Here in paradise, no such choice exists and that necessarily means that politicians cannot "keep on smiling through all the real and imagined bad news, exposes, distortions, exaggerations and misquotations" as Mr. Vesey recommends. In this country the daily media diet has no balance and as any nutritionist will tell you, a balanced diet is essential for life.

Regrettably, the broadcast media has its own challenges. But hope springs eternal. Bryan Darby is leaving! This will inevitably improve accuracy all around. True to form Mr. Darby's Sunday 5.15pm newscast [on March 30] reported a 0-0 draw, and Bermuda's elimination in our international football game - a full four hours before the game even started.

My right is to know; but why should I be made to know only what the careless, the vindictive and the imported say I need to know? That cannot be the "sane and healthy" democracy to which Mr. Vesey aspires.

G.K. Stowe

Smiths

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