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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.[[In-content Ad]]

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