INTERESTING PHOTOS

The Express then the Newsday get kudos for their Friday front pages. The Guardian is a bit blah.

FOURTY. EH?

Even the grand old BBC needs a nudge sometimes. They ran a headline on the withdrawal of British troops from Aden in Yemen "fourty" years ago.
Well for anyone who cares, four loses its U when it changes to forty.

THANKS FOR VIDEO

Thanks CNMG for that CMC report out of Barbados on the after effects of the earthquake. But why did you cut it on the air before it was finished?
And please, whoever wrote that story with Michael Williams of the Prison Officers Association, don't use a talking shot of him over a fresh telephone interview. It's distracting because his mouth is saying one thing but your viewers are hearing something else.

WHY?

Why does TV6's Cherise D'Abadie move her body so much when she is presenting the news? It seems like it's even more pronounced when she reads by herself at 10pm and on weekends. It's very distracting.

And Cherise instead of saying "No reports of damage were reported" following the earthquake, why not say "There were no reports of damage"?

TV REPORTS FOR RADIO

I95, the use of BBC tv reports in your newscasts is not worth the effort, because we know the reporters are writing to pictures and because we can't see those pictures, the reports are not effective.

And TV6 what's with the bad audio from the PM from yesterday's post cabinet meeting that was used in your morning newscast?
From what Keisha David told us, Mr Manning was talking about the reopening of parliament. But he was almost inaudible. Why didn't you just give a synopsis of what he said?
Don't you understand that you drag down the quality of your entire newscast when you do those things?

EARTHQUAKE

According to Joel Villafana, many of the staff members in the TV6 newsroom began screaming when the 7.3 (7.4 according to the BBC) quake struck on Thursday afternoon. Hope they are alright now.

So TV6 why start with how everyone else in the region reacted to the quake rather than how your people did? We endured Cherise D'Abadie's 4 minute telephone interview minus any video with someone in Barbados, then Samantha John spoke with the owner of an inn in Montserrat for just about one minute. After the woman answered two questions, then that was it. So why go live to her? Why not just call up several different people around the region and string the interviews together so we get a wider picture of what happened in the region?
Well after that they went to Marcia Hope's story. At least she had some video of the concrete that fell off the twin towers.

But CNC 3's other Marcia (Braveboy) went inside The Falls at West Mall. She said she was not allowed to go inside the neighbouring Hilo supermarket to "check for damages". Someone has taken the supermarket owners to court?
And Marcia you need make up; even some face powder to take off the shine, nothing fancy, but you must look presentable. And you did two stand ups for the earthquake story...plus a stand up for some other story so you gave us three opportunities to see your shiny, unmade up face. Then the morning crew decided to run your earthquake package about three times! Why?

CNC had a one on one interview with the head of the Seismic Research Unit at UWI. But TV6 pulled a sound bite from the same man from the CMC feed which was a telephone interview, and again no cover video. At first Media Watch thought the man was being interviewed in Barbados, but then we remembered that the Seismic Research Unit is in St Augustine.

AD VOICE

10 points to anyone who can correctly guess which well-known female tv news presenter voice that is on the Scotia Bank Magna Mastercard Christmas radio ad.
Or at least who it sounds like.

HERBIE?

CNMG for a second there Media Watch thought you had Herbie Hancock on your First Up show this morning. Blue shades and all!
But it's some hotel operator from Barbados.

WORK IT OUT

Joel you need some work on the ad-libbing...."All ends that ends well"?

HAVE YOU WHERE?

Media people use this phrase "It's good to have you", but if you think about it, you wonder, It's good to have you where and doing what?
Why not just say "Thanks for being with us"?

BUTTON UP

Hey Joel Villafana at TV6 nice to see you again for Morning Edition sport.
But can you please button up your jacket? We don't need to see that little beer thing going on.

SAMPSON'S REALLY BACK!

Well, well, Sampson Nanton is finally back reading the 9-30pm news on CNC 3 as Media Watch has been requesting. Ira Mathur needs a rest.
Thanks CNC for granting our request.

TALENT FUH SO!

Media Association President Joanne Briggs is talented! Singing parang on C with her group. She sounds great.

THANKS C NEWS

Thanks C News for giving us Vidia Ramphal "On The Phone" for that football story, instead of "OnLine".

MANNING'S BACK

The PM is back in the country. It's the lead story at 7pm Wednesday, but from different angles.

Right off the bat, CNC 3 says the PM is sticking with his pick in Mariano Browne and he will be sworn in next week.
CNMG goes with the oil and gas angle, with a looong and boring piece from Curtis Williams, touching on the BG issue. It could have worked as a feature lower down in the newscast, but not as the main story. The Mariano Browne piece came much later, 7:10.
While TV6's story began with the time the PM's flight arrived, maybe what he had for dinner on the plane, how long he took to get to the VIP lounge! You get the drift? The first minute of that story said absolutely nothing! Then finally they said he was concerned about crime. The Mariano Browne piece was the very last sound bite used.

In CNMG's headlines, Golda Lee said the Venezuelan leader was threatening to sue C-C-N for an inaccurate headline. But the graphic up on the screen at the time read C-N-N. No correction from Golda or Julian. Later in the Caribbean section of the newscast, she correctly said Hugo Chavez had a problem with C-N-N.
Psst, how come TV6's Shabaka Kambon of Latin America Today miss that story?

Then in the headlines as well, Julian said four men who posed as students were caught and Charlene Ramdhanie caught the whole thing on tape. Translated: sit on the edge of your seat, the story is not coming up now. So we did, and were disappointed.
The footage showed what looked like students going into the school, some security guards walking about the compound, a gray van driving out of the compound packed with several people in the back seat and the tray (the shot was used twice). But we waited to see the men being chased or getting caught or even getting roughed up by the police. Nothing. Were those even the men in the van?

Otto Carrington of CNC 3 you haven't been to the voice doctor yet have you? Clearly, because the men in gray are suddenly "pole-leese men".
And Sherwin Long of CNMG, since when is a "VO/stand up" a package?

'DUDES MAN'

We know this post is a bit delayed, but forgive us. We just want to point out a couple of things.

Let's begin with CNMG's Mark Bassant. For the life of us, Media Watch could not figure out if Mark was reporting on a fashion show or a serious story in Monday night's 7pm news. He struck a real "dudes man" pose with his left hand in his pocket as he did a stand up for the story on the little girl who died.
Before that though, Golda Lee read the lead in to the story and said the man involved "had drank a poisonous substance".
And later in the story, Mark said there was "...no distinction between her gray and white matter...meaning she was shaken violently." Eh? We are to assume you are speaking about the child's brain?

Point to note Mark: once your viewer gets distracted by your confusing script and has to go over in their mind what you just said, then you've lost them for the rest of your story. Remember you are not writing for a newspaper, where you can befuddle the script and the person reading it can go over it ten times until they get the gist. You only have one chance to catch the viewer's attention. Don't blow it.

Your colleague Charlene Ramdhanie has started shouting again when she reads her scripts. Charlene the training is going out the window already? And when did Gilbert Reyes become Clyde Reyes? You supered the crime chief as Clyde three times. That secret name should remain secret to the two of you. Don't confuse the viewer.
And that police press conference story went on and on and on.

And finally, Shelly Dass over at CNC 3 why are you commenting on what your "Big Story" callers say? Leave the comments to your guests, and maintain your objectivity as a journalist while you host the show.

MARIANO BROUHAHA

Camini Marajh of the Express is riding high once again with this latest controversy surrounding the prime minister's appointee to the finance ministry, Mariano Browne.
Camini stirred the political waters on Sunday with her front page story that Mr Browne was involved in a legal battle with his former bosses in Barbados. Clearly this cast a shadow over Mr Browne's appointment and suitability for the finance ministry job, with allegations of "financial impropriety".

But in a full page ad in the daily newspapers today, Mr Browne says the allegations are "baseless and of no merit". According to a report on the ad in today's Express, "Browne added that he made the first legal move and on December 30, 2003, obtained an injunction to prevent the sale to RBTT.... He said in September 2004, a counter suit was filed by CLICO/RBTT...".
Puts a different spin on things, don't you think? Camini that bit of information would have been easy to dig up, if it's true.

WHITHER THE BBC?

I95's Dale and Tony want some answers on what was the procedure for the BBC to obtain a license to operate in Trinidad and Tobago.
Dale has explained that they are sending broadcasts from London via a relay station. Their boss Louis Lee Sing calls in to remind us that BBC consultants were brought in by then Public Administration and Information minister Dr Lenny Saith to revamp the national television station TTT into CNMG. But Mr Lee Sing stopped short of saying the BBC reached an accommodation with Dr Saith for the radio broadcasts.
So I95, will you try to have this question answered for us?

ANDY IS BACK

Andy Johnson is back!
Thank you TV6.

STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH

The Guardian's Carol Matroo tries her hand at delving into the short and troubled life of Lorenzo Harridath, who was poisoned by his father last week.
She reports that his father's relatives say "...Harridath was schizophrenic and had a split personality.", and that doctors at St. Ann's hospital "...find out that he wasn’t taking his tablets, so the doctor used to come and give him injections."

She also reports that his father's family did not know Lorenzo was staying with his father until after his death, only that "After Anna (Lorenzo's mother) was killed, one of her sisters took him in...Then he went by another sister in Arima,".

OK Carol. But you've still left your readers with some vital questions.
Are you or any of your colleagues going to try to find those two sisters and ask them why Lorenzo was allowed to stay with his father?

LOST ...PISTOL

Joel Julien of the Express, we'll give you a few seconds to figure out what's wrong with the opening sentence of your story "Lawyer faces jail for losing pistol".

"AN attorney was found guilty of the charge of negligently losing his Bareta pistol and 22 rounds of .380 ammunition in the Port of Spain Fourth Magistrates' Court yesterday."

Figured it out yet?

The way your sentence is structured suggests that the lawyer lost his pistol in the Port of Spain court yesterday, and not that he was sentenced in the court after losing the pistol.

HOUDINI

Richard Charan's story in the Express of the young woman who was kidnapped and either rescued by police or escaped has an interesting twist.
Seems her husband is a student of Houdini.
"Baksh said duct tape was wrapped around his eyes and mouth and his hands tied to his feet behind his back...
Baksh said he tore off the duct tape and began searching for his wife, thinking she was tied up in another room. It was then he realised she had been taken."

And again here's where the story differs. Richard's story says police received a tip off that Josanne Sammy was seen in Enterprise, and they went to the area and "found" her. While the Newsday's Stacy Moore and Nalinee Seelal say she was rescued.
"According to reports, at 6.50 pm, officers intercepted a car at Freedom Street, Cunupia and rescued Sammy."

While the Guardian's Radhica Sookraj says the young woman escaped from her kidnappers, and she was later found by the police.

LORENZO'S STORY

Here's what the Guardian says about Lorenzo Harridath.
"Lorenzo was sent to stay with a relative in Arima. He called his sister, Nerissa Sookoo, to complain he was being ill-treated.
Last week, Sookoo took Lorenzo to live with her, but her husband complained their home was not big enough for all of them.
Lorenzo called his father to take him. He told his father no one wanted him."
How do you know he told his father that? And did you ask the person whom we are assuming overheard this conversation, what they did to reassure Lorenzo that he was wanted?
This STEUPS! is for all the reporters who tackled this story and left so many holes, and for their editors who did not ask for certain questions to be answered.
Where is our responsibility as journalists? Just to report the facts, muddled as they are most times??

CORRUPTION?

Dale Enoch of I95 read a story at 8am reporting that the head of the Arrive Alive group says corruption at the Licensing Office is responsible for deaths on the nation's roads.
But Media Watch listened to your story and the gentleman actually said that yes, there is corruption at the Licensing office. He said many cars that should be taken off the roads are still on the roads because of a lack of proper equipment available to officers at the Licensing Office.
Where was the link between corruption and road deaths?

REPEAT

And I95 repeats Lorenzo's story wholesale, with the addition that investigations are continuing.
Whose investigations? Only the police, no doubt.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

It's a real tragedy that 11 year old Lorenzo Harridath's life was snuffed out by his father last Friday. But who is ultimately responsible for his death?

When Media Watch first saw the story on the Sunday evening news, that question was left unanswered. None of the reporters told us who the little boy was living with before he went to stay with his father. No one tried to contact a welfare officer to try to explain to us why Lorenzo was allowed to stay with his father, who had been in and out of the St Ann's hospital (institution for people with mental problems). No one tried to explain whether this was OK under the country's laws governing children.
CNC 3 interviewed Lorenzo's aunt, who said she last saw the child on Friday, and she heard that her brother went to buy something to eat on Friday. But the reporter did not tell us whether the child was living with that woman or another aunt.

Even in the newspapers today, questions linger. The Newsday says "Reports revealed that Lorenzo was staying at the home of a female relative but had complained of being unhappy and unloved.
He contacted his sister Narissa Sookhoo, who took him to her home, but she soon encountered problems over her decision to take care of her brother. With no where to go, Lorenzo contacted his father on Friday and told him that he wanted to live with him."
How do you know this? Did you even ask who allowed him to go with his father? The newspaper says his father picked him up from school on Friday, and that was the last time he was seen.

The Express recounts a similar tale of Lorenzo's unhappiness with relatives, this time telling us that the child had been living with his father for the last week and a half. Who allowed this?

Which enterprising reporter is going to fully unravel this really sad tale, and have someone be held accountable for Lorenzo's death?
We wait with bated breath.

IMPROVEMENT

Gayelle, your new Cock-A Doodle Doo set is a huge, huge, huge improvement over previous sets.

LOGO MIX

TV6, it's commendable that you are sprucing up your Morning Edition graphics for the Christmas season.
Media Watch doesn't mean to rain on your parade, but the bells (?) you have placed above the Morning Edition sign with the 6 in it make it look just like the Information Division logo.
Take a look.

WHERE IS THE GUARDIAN?

Guardian, it's 6am (already midday in London) and we can't see your Monday edition on the web yet?
The Express Monday edition was already posted by 9pm Sunday, and the Newsday sometime early this morning.

WHERE IS ANDY?

TV6, all yuh suffering viewers of de Morning Edition. Where Andy Johnson disappear to?

WHY?

CNC 3, why start your 6am newscast with that 4 minute package from Rosemarie Sant from Sunday evening on the Arima fire? Just because your boss Mr Sabga owns the building that went up in flames?
TV6 and CNMG gave a brief synopsis of the fire and several other stories in the time it took you to recap the fire.

FIRST UP

Jessie May Ventour on CNMG/91.1 looks and sounds good this morning.

PS

This one is for Raynier Maharaj of the Newsday. Bruce Poon Tip went to live in Canada with his family in 1970, when he was about two years old, so technically he's Canadian. What do you think?

DOCTOR, DOCTOR

Driselle Ramjohn, that story in Monday's Express, "Doctor: Stop the smoking, drinking" seemed like all hype and no substance.
In your entire story of 11 paragraphs, the words "smokers/smoking" were mentioned only twice and "drinking" was mentioned only once.
You spent more time dealing with acid reflux than the actual subject of the story.
And anyway, what's the new information about lifestyle changes leading to longer life?

GETTING AROUND

Media personalities have been getting around lately.
Media Watch caught the "Dreevay" guy from Gayelle on an Andrews ad; sounds like CNMG's Wendell Constantine singing "Come on and shop at Courts".
If you stop at a certain ice cream "parlour" in Maraval you'll hear a voice that sounds strikingly like Nicole Barriteau of CNMG on the overhead speakers talking about the flavours.
TV6's Samantha John voiced up "Car Doctor" on 96.1FM (Paul Richards has now taken up the challenge), while CNMG's Raymond Edwards has been heard on the UTC ads.
If you know of any more moonlighting media celebs, let us know.

COPY CAT

Newsday editors, Media Watch thinks you need to speak with your reporter out of Canada, Raynier Maharaj who seems not to understand that copying someone else's work wholesale has a very unpalatable word attached to it.

In the Saturday Newsday, Mr Maharaj wrote extensively about Bruce Poon Tip's doomed ship, the MS Explorer, which eventually sank in the Antarctic Ocean. Mr Poon Tip is originally from Trinidad, but has lived in Canada for many years.
Mr Maharaj goes into details about the ship's fate, then switches gear to Mr Poon Tip's business exploits since 1991. Well the last seven paragraphs of his story (http://newsday.co.tt/news/0,68556.html) have been copied almost word for word from the Economic Club of Toronto's web site, highlighting speakers for a conference to be held in Toronto on Monday November 26th(http://www.ecot.ca/speakers/speaker_bio.asp?Speaker_ID=67).
How did Media Watch figure this out? A simple Google search of Bruce Poon Tip.
At no point in his article does Mr Maharaj cite the source of his information, just a passing "In a recent interview...,", and that referred to just one sentence.

And is Mr Poon Tip a citizen of Canada? Mr Maharaj's report does not say, but the information he used says he was "...receiving an award as one of Canada’s top 40 Canadians under 40,...".

And if Mr Maharaj had done his homework, he would have been able to quote some interesting information about the vessel which was revealed by The Scotsman (http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1845242007):
"Five faults, some involving the watertight doors, which should have contained the water flooding in, were found in an inspection of the Explorer in Greenock in May. Gap Adventures...said that they had been repaired.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency inspection found five faults, missing search-and-rescue plans and lifeboat maintenance problems. Watertight doors were described as "not as required", and fire-safety measures also attracted criticism. The agency said the faults had been fixed before the vessel sailed.
It is understood that Chilean inspectors found six deficiencies during an inspection in Puerto Natales in March. These included two related to safety of navigation. However, a passenger safety certificate was issued for the vessel last month."

But in the Sunday Newsday edition, Mr Maharaj quotes Marie Anne McRae, spokesperson for GAP Adventures in Toronto as saying "Just on October 21 this year, (MS Explorer) came off dry dock after passing a rigid safety inspection process initiated by insurers Lloyds of London. It was fully certified and this was its first tour since the safety certification.” Not a word about the other safety concerns.

SATURDAY NEWS

Overall the Saturday night news was very palatable. Not much to complain about. But bear with us, there were a few things of note.
Mark Bassant of C News, you are coming along well in your news presentation. Keep pressing on. But please ask your director to drop the pedestal on your camera. For some reason you always seem to be looking up at your audience, or is it that you are slouching too much?

Natalie Chrysostom of TV6 you are also doing well. Just pick up the pace a little when you voice your stories.

CNC 3 and CNMG, poor video on that TTUTA story. Even if they handed you that tape, say thanks but no thanks. And Otto Carrington bad audio mix on that Opus Dei story. Astil Renn, "Those gathered was a reflection..."? (from the funeral story).

And last, but by no means least, we have TV6's Samantha John.
She said former Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon is a New "Zee-land-er".

THANKS FOR REPORT

CNC 3 thanks for that CMC report with the Caribbean perspective from the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in Uganda.
And Satesh, take your time.

RESPONSE

Sola James, the C News reporter in Tobago, has a voice interview with THA Minority Leader Ashworth Jack, while I95 has a telephone interview with the DAC/TUF public relations officer, all in response to the resignation of Hochoy Charles from the THA.

Robert Dumas, that Federer/Sampras story has been running on the BBC since Tuesday.

LUNCH NEWS

Lead story of course is that the 21 year old woman charged with kidnapping baby Jeremiah appeared in court.
Nicole Barriteau of C News your khaki jacket is way too tight. Did you borrow it from Desha?
And Sunil Ramdeen what's wrong with your voice? We know you are wearing a lapel mic so you don't need to shout, but you sound like you are engaging in some pillow talk rather than reading a newscast. Still no additional staff?

BEST TV PRESENTER

The BBC's Lyse Doucet was recently named the world's best television news presenter at the world television awards.
For all those who present the news and those of you who aspire to do so, take a look at her biography, take a look at her doing what she does best, and TAKE LOTS OF NOTES!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/news/lyse_doucet.shtml
And here's an article that was written about Lyse and another young broadcaster back in 2002. Proves it's not enough to think you look and sound good.
http://www.enroutemag.com/e/archives/september02/archives01.html

WHERE'S BOBBI?

The election campaign and the swearing in ceremonies are behind us. So TV6, where have you hidden Bobbi Jeffrey-Hicks?

LAUGHABLE ESTHER

The Guardian's Sean Nero gets Kudos for his hilarious take on how the new Education Minister evaded the media yesterday. http://www.guardian.co.tt/news6.html

STALE NEWS

CNC, once again why are you showing Thursday night's edition of Caribbean Newsline with Sharon Coward when there is a new edition for this morning with Desmond Brown (Caribbean Today), which your competitor C News is showing at this time?

WHY THE SHADES?

Cordielle on CNC 3, your guest Roger Boothman who is speaking about T&T Jazz has admitted that he is quiet, shy and bi-polar.
But why is he wearing those dark shades during the interview?
OK finally he took them off and said his eyes are giving him a little trouble. But that suggests you did not even ask him to remove the shades before he went on the set.

GREAT VOICE

Desha Rambhajan of C News has a great voice, but Desha you need to smile so that your listeners can hear a softer tone.
You sound as if you are reading the news with your teeth clenched.

SPORTS TALK

TV6's sports reporter Joel Villafana is doing a good job at hosting the Morning Edition to talk sport.
Just watch the green verbs and you will be fine.

ALLEGED BABY SNATCHER

Kudos Charlene Ramdhanie at C News for not showing the face of the woman who allegedly stole baby Jeremiah. She has not appeared in court yet so you shouldn't show her face.
But TV6 gave us a full frontal view of the young woman. Hopefully the charges against her will not be dropped before she appears in court.

WHY NO HOCHOY VIDEO?

Come on TV6, where is the video of Hochoy Charles? You had your Tobago reporter Elizabeth Williams Allard on the telephone live for the 7pm news with Elizabeth's picture up for the entire report on Mr Charles' resignation.
So what? You all don't have a single file shot of Hochoy Charles to run over her report? Steups! Please fix it for the 10 o'clock news.

CALM DOWN

Calm down Shelly, the Hochoy Charles story from Sampson Nanton took a while to come up but we could all see you were about to burst a blood vessel.

POINTS TO PONDER

Media Watch came across this observation from Jeremy Taylor, which was posted one day after the general election.

"Points to ponder: (condensed)
The entire corps of journalists needs to go back to school. Based on this election campaign, it seems that not one journalist in the country understands what questions to ask, or how to extract truthful answers. And not one editor has the guts to insist on either. The things that politicians get away with is twice as astonishing (e.g. the "Head to Head" interviews in which pure government propaganda was brilliantly passed off as neutral information and informed debate)... if journalists aren't up to their job, what you get is a population mired in ignorance, muddle and superstition."

HOW MANY?

The Express says 104 fell ill with food poisoning at Cap de Ville (103 students and 1 teacher), while the Newsday says it's 108 students (no mention of a teacher), and the Guardian says it's 103 students and a teacher. Who is right?

Here's the Newsday's take. "Education Ministry officials were reportedly unaware of the situation while the officer for the School Nutrition Programme in the Point Fortin district had already left for the day. Repeated attempts to get comments from new Education Minister Esther Le Gendre proved futile. It was not known if the food was sent to the State Laboratory for testing to ascertain what caused the students to fall ill."

But Carolyn Kissoon and Kimoy Leon Sing of the Express got details from a press release from the Education Ministry. They write.. "Apart from the pie, samples of saffron rice and red beans, which all formed part of the children's lunch... will be tested...It added that public health authorities also took samples of the school's water supply...The samples are to be analysed by CARIRI and the results "are expected within a few days."
Newsday what time did you go to print?

THANKS ASHA

Being consistent as a journalist. That's the way to go Asha Javeed.
She's being interviewed on CNC 3 on winning two awards in recent times (PAHO & UNFPA). She is also of the view that quantity in media does not mean quality, and the content of radio and television stories needs to be improved. She says WE NEED TO RAISE THE BAR. She says media needs to be used as a way to develop society, and she hopes the powers that be at the various media houses ensure this happens.
Asha says journalists need to recognise what their ideals are and stick to that.

On Tuesday evening Deborah John said almost the same thing at an awards ceremony where her late father George John was also awarded posthumously.
Thanks Asha and Deborah for echoing what we here at Media Watch have been saying all along.

PS Here's a gentle reminder for Cordielle, the stud in your nose is still not appropriate for serious tv.

JEREMIAH 2

Carol Matroo of the Guardian good follow up on the baby Jeremiah story. Good work as well on the mother whose baby was stolen 11 years ago.

FUNNY FENCE STORY

Richard Charan of the Express, that's a very funny story on the thieves who walked away with the 200-foot fence. What will they think of next?

MISSING JACKET

Golda Lee of C News, where was your jacket when you reported live from Point Fortin on the sick children?
That tank top you were wearing was most inappropriate for a national newscast. Your cameraman, producer and director did not notice that you were not wearing a jacket?

ABSENT AWARDEES

Well here's a classic. In the past, deceased persons were given posthumous awards. Now they are referred to as being "absent for various reasons".

Media Watch heard this classic on TV6 in Marcia Hope's story on the media "luminaries". George John and Raffie Knowles were said to be absent because they had passed away earlier in the year.
Marcia did your producer check that script?

PLEASE PUT A HAND!

OK TV6 managers. Media Watch finds it difficult to believe that you all are watching and listening to the same newscast that your hundreds of thousands of viewers are watching every night (and cringing every night too!).
Please help Samantha John with her pronunciation and presentation. In your 7pm news she said "The journey....continue"; then she went to her customary "vairious" and "sairious".

In the interview with the parent whose child had food poisoning, she did not identify the parent, just said "a PTA member". She should have said the person preferred to remain anonymous, because it left the viewer with the impression that she just forgot to name the parent; the interview as well was very stilted.

Then the icing on the cake was when she said the film on Laventille children was shown at the "Tri-beeka" Grand, instead of the "Tri-becka" Grand (correctly spelt Tribeca).

Sigh! What is going on? Doesn't Miss John understand that when she distracts her viewers with her mispronunciations the viewers then miss the rest of her sentence which was carefully crafted by the reporters?
Miss John, you need to ask for clarification on how to pronounce a word BEFORE you go on the air!
Please managers, put a hand!

APOLOGY?

Miss John, when you introduce a story and for some reason it is not shown, the courteous thing to do is to apologize to your viewers, no matter how many times the glitch occurs.
At ten pm you introduced a story from Sharon Hamilton and while you apologized the first time, the second time you just went straight to "More news after the break".

Good stand up Karen Cozier Phillip in your Mayaro story, but next time ask your cameraman to provide you with a wireless mic.

JEREMIAH

OK so Jeremiah was found and returned to his mother. So why did CNC and TV6 decide to run their stories at close to 4 minutes? And most of it was just short sound bites from the mother with the media jostling her.

Sharmilla Persad's story was a bit wrong sided as she started her story with a shot of the father saying they were going to get the child, then a shot of the mother holding the baby, then she went to a shot of the parents "waiting to get the child". Why didn't you just start the story with them waiting, or start with the mother holding the baby and then write to your pictures?

After their baby story, CNMG went live to Mark Bassant outside the Mount Hope hospital where he interviewed the young mother's relatives. Interesting. But Mark you need to work on your live presentation. You didn't seem to know what to do with your shoulders, so you just kept shrugging them, even to indicate that you were tossing back to Julian in studio.

And Naette, you did not have quality video for that story on the man who was shot in Champ Fleur. It was shaky and the cameraman zoomed in and out willy nilly. Shouldn't you have supered it as "Amateur Video" even to save face?

Sherwin Long the graphic on your money laundering story was way too small. Anyone who was able to read it was probably doing so with a splitting headache.

And CNC when are we going to see Sampson Nanton again? We hear his voice every night, but no sign of him.

SCOOP

CNC 3 you scooped the other tv stations at lunch time with your news of the interrogation of the woman who snatched baby Jeremiah.
TV6 started their newscast 7 minutes late. What was the problem? And then they began (as usual) with murder; granted it was three murders this time. But where was the context?

Way into their newscast, TV6's Fabian Pierre read the story about the police making a sketch of the baby snatcher available, and he even said "Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the suspect should contact the police." Laughable because she was being questioned since 6-30am. At least Fabian mentioned this fact in the "Look Ahead" segment, after someone probably listened to CNC 3 and got the info.

Sandra Maharaj as usual you look and sound good, but today there was just a little too much contouring of your cheeks. Can't remember what your lead story was, but you had that Geoffrey Henderson interview about white collar crime (as well as CNC).

Nathalie Chrysostom you gave a good synopsis of the PSA WASA rep's allegations against Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, but you did not get her response. You used a sound bite from him which said "...her actions are lawless". But your story ended without even the cursory "All efforts to reach Mrs Baptiste-Primus for a comment proved futile". Did your producer insist that you get both sides of the story before it was aired?

CABINET MEETING

TV6, did you report on the inaugural cabinet meeting in the first section of your lunch time news?

YES POOR

Fabian, the security measures at Mount Hope Maternity "is" poor?

NEWS

C News and CNC start their lunch time news with the first real cabinet meeting of the new ministers. But as usual, TV6 starts with a murder.
C went to the murder as their second story.

ONCE AGAIN

Once again there are some discrepancies in a story reported on by all the media houses. In particular, the "Newsday Reporters" version is interesting.

"Upon reaching the house, the officers observed a white B-14 car parked between coconut trees in front the white building....The officers searched the vehicle and discovered the two decomposed bodies lying in a crouched position in the trunk."

Every other media house reported that the car in which the bodies were found was a VW Bora. TV pictures bear testament to this. So none of the "Reporters" picked up a phone to verify the information? STEUPS! It might seem like a small detail, but it suggests carelessness on the part of the "Reporters" at the Newsday.

CLOSE UPS

Jessie May Ventour and Fazeer Mohammed are speaking with DOMA president Gregory Aboud about crimes being committed in Port of Spain. He says it's a specific group of people who repeatedly commit night time crimes. Yet we are seeing close up shots of ordinary Trinis walking around the streets of Port of Spain.
Why is this necessary? Hopefully none of them will see the video and intimate that you are associating them with crime.
Why not blur the faces or use wider crowd shots?

MISS STREET

Why does Dr Keith Clifford persist in calling Cordielle "Miss Street", when she is more casual and addresses him as simply "Keith"?
Are we the only ones who see this clearly annoys her?

TUT TUT

Tut tut C News on the video quality on the Prestige Holdings story.
Seems your cameraman forgot his tripod at the office, or someone from Prestige decided to record it on their personal video machine and send you a copy. We think it might be the second scenario. But you know what? You didn't have to use it!
First of all, the video quality was so poor that it dragged down the quality of your entire newscast, and second it was free advertising for KFC.
Hope you recoup some advertising money.

GOOD WORK

Once again Richard Charan of the Express shows his calibre as a writer. Great story "Life without a paper trail", Sunday Express.
Some of your colleagues could learn some lessons on how to tell a story effectively without gory details.
And your personal perspective of the sugar cane industry, "Children of the cane" is a winner as well.

WHY SO MANY DIFFERENCES?

Two interesting stories appear in the Saturday Newsday and Express. They both tell the story of a young woman chopped to death by her former lover. But that's where the similarity in information ends.

Rhondor Dowlat of the Newsday says "A SCREAMING Tineka Constantine, aged three, watched in horror as her mother was being chopped to death by a close male relative...".
But Darryl Heeralal of the Express says "As the man unleashed his savage violence on the 20-year-old Constantine, chopping off some of her fingers, then across the mouth cutting away her teeth and opening her skull with two blows, little T'nika, two, kept running back and forth between her mother and the road.
Relatives said T'nika has been unable to cry and was not able to even scream as she witnessed the man, who held her as a baby, take her mother's life with the same hands."
So one account says she kept screaming, while the other says she did not even cry.

Even the victim's name and age are different. The Express has 23 year old "Sylona" while the Newsday has 20 year old "Salona". And her daughter's name is also spelt differently, while she is two years old in one story and three in the other.

Darryl's editorialised account of the event continued with "She was being stalked by the man who had only murder on his mind."
And how do you know that? Did you have a conversation with him before he went to the house?

Even the initial contact between the victim and her killer differs significantly. Heeralal writes "She was killed around 7.30 p.m., ambushed as she walked down from her house to go to a neighbour to collect a phone."; while Dowlat's account is that "According to a police report, at about 7.30 pm, Salona Constantine, 20, was called out (of the house) by the man who came to visit Tineka."
So who is correct?

Heeralal: "Two months ago Constantine left the man, after spending four years of turmoil with him."
Dowlat: "Rivas (victim's grandmother) said that the couple was separated for the past three months."
This young woman's story unfortunately gives credence to the saying that you shouldn't believe everything you read.

And here are some more colourful adjectives from Mr Heeralal:
"...hacked his estranged lover to death..."; "...hacked to death in front of her daughter..."; "...the man unleashed his savage violence..."; "...suspect ran after committing his murderous act...". Were they really necessary?

NOTE: Camille Clarke of the Guardian also writes that the victim's name is "Sylona" and she is 20 years old; she also writes that the child is two years old, and that the woman went outside the house to collect a cellphone from her jeep when she was attacked.

And here's another one: the Guardian reports that there have been 16 murders since the general election, but the Express tells us the figure is 18.

TYPING

Francesca who is Vincent Cabberea? Your CG Operator needs to take his/her time.

And Shabaka Kambon less sing-song from you as well. Good.

BACK IN TIMES

And CNC 3, why go back to sound bites from Esther Le Gendre from President's House on Thursday afternoon? You are committing the same error as your competitor.

THAT VOICE

Otto Carrington, please ask your boss Rosemarie Sant to pay for some voice lessons for you. This will do a world of wonders for your presentation.
While Marcia Hope at TV6 is showing great improvement in her voicing. She's not as sing-song as usual.

Hello Golda, you look great. But why are you running that story from the American Chamber and Bhoe Tewarie tonight? That event was early Thursday morning. Yes it's a holiday and news is scarce, but no need to prove that to all your viewers. Your producers needed some more creative story ideas.

ROTI HIGH UP

So CNC and CNMG how come you both have that "long lines for roti" story so high up in your newscast?

Cherise you don't look happy tonight. Not "ha ha" happy, but more like "I don't want to be here tonight" happy. What's wrong?

HOLIDAY NEWS II

Great to see you reading the news Julian.
All the stations start with the Des Vignes murder. According to TV6, the "Lavantille" representative NiLeung Hypolite visited the family.

Finally TV6 ran the Kerik story. It's been on the internet since late yesterday, and you were the only ones with a lunch time newscast. You could have scooped everyone with that story.

GIVING AWAY THE PLOT

Media Watch caught Andre Bagoo's review of "American Gangster" in the Newsday. It started off fine, and we were thinking this could be some foreign writer doing a good job of giving an insight into the movie's plot.
But when you gave away the ending, we knew it was an amateur. What about all the people who are or were planning to go see it?
STEUPS!

SO WHY?

TV6 started with a murder and a rape, then went to sound bites from Emily "Gainor" (should be Gaynor) Dick-Forde and Joseph Ross from President's House yesterday afternoon. Why go back to those? They should have been used last night in your late newscast, and latest on the Morning Edition today.

And why are we getting information from the THA press conference one day later? Why not the same urgency to present that information to the public that's given to the post cabinet or police press conferences? And then everyone wonders why Tobagonians feel they are treated as second class citizens. All the stations jumped on the Tobago bandwagon during the election, so let's see who will continue to bring us reliable Tobago coverage now that the campaigning has ended.

Then Fabian you went to a story on the COP from Charlene Stuart. We are guessing that story was supposed to be run last night, because the press conference was last evening.
But Fabian you did not even give us a change in tone when you went to the roti story. You just launched straight into the fact that there were long lines. (Miss Chrysostom, good use of the policeman shot. It added an interesting element to the story). You should have flipped the lead-in to say something like, "In true Divali tradition, there were long lines outside many roti shops today." And then Fabian you went to a story after that which began with "Hindus are celebrating Divali today...". Yes we know that already.

CNC 3's newscast looked like it was recorded because in the middle of Sampson Nanton reading a regional story at 12:25, the station cut out of that and went straight to a Divali greeting and an animated feature "Eva goes to foreign". So who took the day off at CNC?

DIVALI NEWS OR LACK OF

TV6 and CNC 3 are the only ones with noon newscasts today, although CNC's newscast started way past 12 o'clock.
CNMG is showing a movie.

BEST PAGE

The Guardian, in Media Watch's humble opinion, has the best front page spread today. Second is the Newsday and bringing up the rear is the Express.

WE KNOW

OK Juhel, pat yourself on the back for your exclusive.
"As the Express exclusively reported yesterday, attorney Brigid Annisette-George replaced John Jeremie as Attorney General, and is the third woman to have ever received such an appointment."

GOOD STORY

Kimberly Castillo of the Express kudos on that lovely story of Brian Lara meeting ten year old Kimberly Singh of Guyana after she wrote him a letter. She's receiving medical attention at his cancer treatment centre in Port of Spain.
And you have a nice photo too.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161232502

GOOD REPORT

Good report Miss Stuart on the Special Olympics for Morning Edition.
But do your producers also know that they have a ready audience for these pieces during the evening news?

EXPLANATION

Well Jessie and Julian just explained that Julian is reading the news on Talk City this morning because when the station first went on the air one year ago he was "just the lowly news reader".
Good that you can poke fun at yourself.

NEWS READER

Julian Rogers is reading the 7:30am news on FIRST UP. Does Miss Khan Daniel have the day off? Kudos Julian for leading by example.

GREAT TV

Paul Keens Douglas is a great guest for radio AND tv. He is visually appealing, very animated, and his use of language is great; very vivid.

MORE POLITICS

Well CNMG is celebrating, and Andy is talking sport. It's a holiday. Cordielle can't you give us a break from the politics?
Like you say, politics is overshadowing the discussion you are having with Suruj Rambachan on Divali.

CELEBRATIONS

Julian Rogers, Jessie, Raymond, and several others are in the studio celebrating Talk City's first anniversary. They also have Paul Keens Douglas, and Short Pants.
Different and light fare that is appropriate for today. Shows their camaraderie.
Oh and congrats from Media Watch.

LOOKING GOOD

Cordielle looks great! That's how you should look, apart from the pin striped suits. Stay away from granny's clothes.

MISSING IN ACTION

Media Watch was surprised to see that Sasha Mohammed and Charlene Stuart were missing in action at the swearing in ceremony at President's House (kudos C for using Golda and Hema, faces we've come to know and trust during the election campaign.)
So powers that be at TV6, how come Bobbi was thrust into the position of presenter/reporter on this auspicious occasion (and at the PM's swearing in) over her more experienced colleagues? By her own admission on Wednesday at Woodford Square, Bobbi entered the media just a few months before the elections.

Well you had several alternatives:
Option #1. Sasha Mohammed. She's been spewing political stories, sometimes three per night, for the last year, but she's noticeably absent.
Option #2. Charlene Stuart. She has been covering the PNM campaign for the elections, as well as we vaguely remember hearing her voice on some of those post cabinet stories. She was noticeably absent.
Option #3. Keisha David. She was the familiar face on the COP's campaign trail. She was noticeably absent.

Bobbi, it's not that we think you're not good at what you do.
It's just that these events require more than just the average joe, and you do not complement Andy, who is a veteran with a wealth of knowledge. For example, at one point today Andy made reference to recent political history, and for a quick two seconds your expression gave away the fact that you had no clue what he was talking about. But you recovered quickly by staying silent then changing the subject.

TV6 your presenters need to build credibility. People the world over turn on their television sets to see people whom they have come to trust. By the way, the only time we can remember seeing your two female news presenters anywhere without teleprompters in front of them is on the streets for Carnival. Fabian we vaguely remember you doing a stand up with a lap top computer, and Bobbi your most memorable moment outside of TV6's Extra was the blue eyeshadow for every outfit on the set of WIN TV.

And CNMG, you too! Where has Curtis Williams disappeared to? He has also been the mainstay in the PNM election campaign, but you leave him out of the swearing in ceremony? Steups!

And CNC 3, once again where is Sampson Nanton, who built a reputation at TV6 as a good live presenter?

Credibility! Credibility! Credibility!

Well let's see who these newsroom producers who have been playing musical chairs with their reporters will choose to cover the cabinet retreat at Salybia.

GAYELLE

Some good ideas but the execution needs work, like the "Classifieds". "Skews" is interesting, especially the Trini grammar.
But Paolo don't quit your day job just yet.

KUDOS

Thank you to Miss John's producer for insisting she correct the pronunciation of "parliamentary".

SLIPS

Fabian Pierre, Suresh Sookraj is a "robery" victim? Slip of the fingers, you may say, for 7pm, but what about 10pm?

And Miss John is still saying "parla-men-terry" elections. And who is Michelle "me-shire" Boyd?

NICE JACKET

Robert Dumas at C News that dark jacket suits you much better than the light coloured pieces you seem to prefer.

WHY?

Hema, why use a shot of Golda interviewing Dr Amery Browne for your package on the omission of several popular faces from the new cabinet?
What you AND Golda should have done was ask your cameramen to get individual shots of all your interviewees mingling with the crowd so you could include those in your stories.

WRAP UP

Golda, good wrap on the new appointments.

THANKS

Thanks CNMG for showing part of the swearing in ceremony after the news for those who missed it.

MORE OF THE SAME?

TV6 you came back from a long break to tell us the President was wishing the country a Happy Divali in a two line story to go back to another long break? Steups! We thought that was over on Sunday night.
Guess we were wrong. Continue to diss the viewers by showing that the purse strings still call the shots.

FORGOT TO MENTION

Media Watch forgot to mention that TV6's Marcia Hope did a good stand up for her story on Saturday night.
But Marcia blame your people; we almost missed it because we were really fed up with the long breaks and had to remind ourselves to switch back to TV6.

STEUPS!

Miss John, what are "parla-men-terry" elections?

CHAINED UP

So what's up with TV6's two presenters tonight? Is there an internal prize on offer for the biggest necklace and earrings?
Steups! Well both of you get the prize for distracting the viewers!

LINING UP

TV6 and C News, a new government was sworn in today but your line up didn't seem to suggest that.
TV6 started with two soundbites from the PM and C had short pieces from Miss Ramdhanie.
Rose you led the way tonight with a round up package of the new cabinet, then the bacchanal afterwards of who was left out.

CNC AND HEALTH

And CNC kudos for getting a response from the PSA on the new health minister, as well as the Medical Professionals Association.

LABOUR RESPONSE

Good idea C News to get a response from the Labour movement on the new minister, Rennie Dumas. Kudos.

SARI IN THE NEWS

Charlene Ramdhanie is in a beautiful blue sari on C News, with matching jewellery. But Charlene you have to be careful about what you wear. While the sari may be part of your culture, you risk alienating non-Hindu viewers.
So when Emancipation day rolls around and your bosses ask you to wear African garb, would you be willing to do so?
Keep it simple like your other colleagues.

We had to update this entry. Julian why did you allow Miss Ramdhanie to read the news in a sari? We hope you have a lovely African outfit waiting for her, as well as a Chinese top.

OUT OF THE BAG

Juhel Browne at Express take a bow.
You hit the nail on the head with your insider information on the appointment of Bridgette Anisette George as Attorney General. Your sources came through this time.

OK. So down to the ceremony. CNMG and TV6 were live before the ceremony thank goodness.
Andy and Bobbi were at President's House, while Golda and Hema were there for CNMG. CNC again it looked like you took the poor feed from the Parliament Channel.
Bobbi you looked so much more put together today in your pin striped jacket, like you knew you were going to President's House and it was not a last minute decision. Andy dapper as usual, as well as Julian.

Golda looked good as well in her dark jacket. Hema wore a beautiful sari. But Media Watch is still trying to decide whether it was a wise choice, considering that we have so many cultural celebrations in Trinidad. While we understand you want to celebrate your culture, some of your viewers may not be of the same ilk. Can you imagine any of the prominent US or British presenters/reporters showing up for work in a sari or full Chinese or Jewish garb? Bet you their bosses would point them towards the dressing room to change. Careful that you don't start a trend because for the next holiday you may be asked to wear something fitting that occasion.

Bobbi, some of your statements were a bit suspect. "Makes it more interesting to gestimate which one of the ministries will be given to whom". What does "gestimate" mean? And the classic, "It is my privilege to announce this one" in reference to the appointment of Dr Keith Rowley as Trade Minister. Why was it a privilege? Did you vote for him or work on his campaign? Keep that to yourself.

Both Bobbi and Golda interviewed Dr Amery Browne. Unfortunately for him they wanted to know if he has any initial plans in place for the Social Development ministry. Well he had to correct Golda and let her know that he is the Technical Director of the NACC, and NOT the Chairman as she referred to him. Then he said the question of initial plans is very premature.

Golda does your cameraman have a thing for you? Either that or his tripod was in the wrong place because during the interview with Christine Kangaloo you were in the shot more than Mrs Kangaloo, and he never once singled her.

This time TV6 scooped CNMG with the live interview the PM had with the media; CNMG's Hema was interviewing someone at the time, then they went over to Golda conducting an interview. Eventually later Hema got a hold of the PM. But in the middle of the interview we heard Bobbi complaining to someone that "I did". They probably told her to switch on the mic. Well we were hearing him fine until you touched it because after that we saw his lips moving and heard music.

Well soon after TV6 cut out. The last shot after Andy closed off had no sound and the director picked up a dead shot of Guardian photographer Andre Alexander asking someone how to spell their name. Steups! That was at 4:10.
CNMG outlasted you again, ending their coverage at 4:35 with more interviews. They had a ticker tape running with the names of the people who were sworn in. Great for those who missed the ceremony.

PREDICTIONS

Well the political gurus are hedging bets on who will be appointed Attorney General at today's swearing in ceremony at President's House.
At Tuesday's swearing in ceremony for the Prime Minister, CNMG's Charlene Ramdhanie was in her glee boasting that after much prodding she got the PM to tell her that the post would be filled "by someone outside". Don't pat yourself on the back yet Charlene. That could be any one of the five or so lawyers in the party. So he didn't give you any more hints? Tut tut.

Well Juhel Browne at the Express says "Attorney Bridgette Annisette-George is to be sworn in today as the nation's new Attorney General, several sources confirmed yesterday."

But his colleague at the Guardian, Gail Alexander is not convinced. She says "Also tipped for the Senate are attorney Bridgette Annisette-George...", after she named several other people.

And Irene Medina at the Newsday did not even try to hazard a guess. She just says "The Attorney General is to be sworn in today with all other members of Cabinet. The Attorney General is a crucial figure under the Constitution, without whom there can be no Government."

Well we'll see who gets the Kudos today for calling it right.

And Express take a bow. You have a fantastic front page picture of Mr Manning greeting his supporters. And kudos as well to Shirley Bahadur of the Guardian. She has a nice black and white of the PM and his wife also greeting supporters.

TRY TO GET IT RIGHT

Express TV, you still have lots of errors on your "interactive" elections website, most of which have already been pointed out.
Don't you care that people all over the world may still be going to the site to check out the elections results?
Well we will tell you again.
"Deigo Martin North/East"; "Toco Sande Grande"; "St. Anne's West"; "St. Anne's East"; "Mrs. Nicole Simon Dyer"; and Christine Kangaloo is not the Senate Vice President.
Try to get it right.

STEUPS!

Oh gosh CNC 3! Why do you have to open up the phone lines every day? Don't you have anyone to interview? Nothing planned besides fielding calls? That's lazy producing.
And Dr Clifford you need some work on your interviewing skills. You have a very condescending attitude and tone of voice.
Serious turn off.

DUKE STILL MIGHTY

Kudos Andy for bringing on The Mighty Duke on the Morning Edition. One of the best in the business, and he clearly says that what these young people these days are singing is "smut".
Now you need to send a copy of this interview to Gayelle and Synergy and tell them this is what a REAL calypsonian looks and sounds like and this is how you interview him/her!
So who's next on the list Andy? Rose? Sparrow? Nelson?
We wait with bated breath.

WINNERS AGAIN

CNMG again take a bow. You are showing your leadership once again, long after the polls have closed.
You were first past the post in getting the live pictures from Woodford Square, then you showed the President and the Prime Minister arriving. You gave us really clean video and quality shots. You gave us live video of the PM greeting members of the public after his speech, as well as his impromptu interview with the media. This was an historic event and you proved that you are up to the challenge. Historic because it's the first time a Prime Minister has been sworn in at Woodford Square, and the first time a PM has addressed the public from that location following his swearing in.

Whereas the competition looked like they were sleeping.
Rosemarie Sant was at Woodford Square, but she heard the PM talk about this historic swearing in ceremony just like everyone else, yet the best video feed she could arrange was from the Parliament Channel! Poor video and audio. STEUPS!

TV6 you get a failing grade. Again. You went late to the live pictures at Woodford Square. Missed the President's arrival. Missed the PM's live interview with the media and Mr Manning greeting members of the public. Then you cut out at exactly 4pm to go to football.
Your managers could very easily argue that the football was paid for a long time ago and the PM's notice of this event was last minute, but this is history in the making. One week from now will anyone remember the name of the two teams in today's match? STEUPS!

CNC 3 of course had to go with whatever the Parliament Channel was doing, so they had to wait til they went live, then had to endure the poor video and audio, then had to cut out before the PM's live media interview, and his greeting the public. Gone to a kid's show.

CNMG still live with Charlene Ramdhanie and Sasha Harrinanan, with Julian in studio. Great live shots of people dancing in the square.

What happened over at WIN TV, Gayelle, Synergy, IBN?

CNMG your competition has 24 hours to get their act together for when the MP's will be sworn in at President's House at 3pm tomorrow. Will we get any live pictures before the actual swearing in?
The other stations really disappointed their viewers today.

It's 4:30 and CNMG is still bringing us live pictures from Woodford Square with the Prime Minister greeting members of the public.

SECOND TEST

CNMG still live and giving us the live interview with the PM.
TV6 showing football. STEUPS!

SWITCH PLEASE!

Please CNC 3, switch to CNMG. Your feed from the Parliament Channel is awful.

TV6 cuts out at 4pm with crowd shots.

PM'S SPEECH ENDS

Andy and Shelly giving a recap of the PM's speech, Shelly has her panellist/analyst picking it apart.
High point for Bobbi in covering the event - covering the marginal constituencies and covering an election with three political parties. Her time at Balisier House on election night was "exhilarating".

VIDEO PROBLEMS

CNC 3 better switch to taking their feed from CNMG before they lose the feed. Awful video from Parliament Channel.

LOOKING ON

CNMG you have very clean video, unlike your competitors. What is up with the Parliament Channel? Media Watch would have thought their video and audio would have been flawless.

GOOD MOVE

Good move Andy to have historian Michael Anthony with you giving the history of Port of Spain and Woodford Square during the cultural pieces, with lots of cutaways. Kudos.

LIVE TO SWEARING IN

CNMG, TV6, CNC3 taking a feed from the Parliament Channel, (covering the obvious with a huge red banner). WIN TV has the Indian cultural feature, Gayelle has a kid's show, Synergy music videos, IETV taking the feed from CNMG, then back to studio.
Please try to fix the audio.

MAX ARRIVES

The President arrives at 2:55pm and TV6 misses it! They were running their November movie reel. Then finally at about two minutes later Fabian Pierre comes up in the studio to introduce Andy Johnson and Bobbi Jeffrey Hicks.
Bobbi what are you wearing? Andy is in a suit, as is every other man there and you look like you are going to the market. Didn't you know you were going to this event with the President and the Prime Minister?

CNC 3 NEXT

OK, next up at 2:47 is CNC 3's Shelly Dass with her panellist waiting to go live to Woodford Square.
Charlene Ramdhanie was doing well with her monologue then she said "on Monday night the prime minister..." Long pause. Then she looks to her left and says "We're off air?". Oops! Oh well I guess she thought she was; so it's back to Julian to give a really good synopsis of the PM's choices for his cabinet.
Then she interviews Rennie Dumas. Very funny because Charlene is 5 feet tall and Mr Dumas is close to 7 feet tall.

Sampson Nanton is on the phone to give an update on what's happening at Woodford Square.
We won't ask again about that third station.

CNMG FIRST AGAIN!

At 2:37, CNMG (once again on the ball!) brings us the first live pictures from Woodford Square and they have Charlene Ramdhanie reporting live NOW from the square.
Where are the other tv stations?

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES???

So. It's a half hour before the new PM is supposed to be sworn in. Everyone reported on it at noon. But at 2:30pm no live pictures from Woodford Square from any of the stations. No reporters even giving us an atmosphere piece on how many people are gathered in anticipation, whether or not the President has arrived, nothing. Steups! You all had close to two days' notice on this. What's wrong?

CNMG showing a government feature, TV6 showing a preacher, CNC 3 showing beach volleyball, IETV has a VOA health feature, WIN TV has an Indian cultural feature (very bad audio!), NCC 4 has what looks like Community Dateline, and typical Synergy has music videos, while Gayelle has two fools ole' talkin'. Steups!

WE START AGAIN

Fabian Pierre, what does an "absence of water" mean? Hospital workers and patients at the KPH in Jamaica are striking because there is no water at the hospital. So the water is striking too, and decided not to go to the hospital? Shouldn't you say there is a "lack of water"?
And how come your story on the preparations for the PM's swearing in was so different to that of the other stations? CNC and CNMG had interviews with the Port of Spain Mayor on the logistics of putting on the event. And you also seemed to miss Lennox Smith's reappearance in court.

Satesh Mahabir please pick up the pace. You drag your words out. Very annoying.

Jessie Mae why do you all persist in referring to the midday news as "high noon"? Are you advertising a western?

WINNERS AND, WELL, YOU KNOW

OK. After weeks of tension, noise, sleepless nights, long breaks and just too much stress, the results are in on who did best with elections coverage. All the competitors tried to put their best foot forward. Some strode the course with confidence, while others stumbled from time to time, and others fell down without trying to pick themselves up.
So Media Watch has come up with a countdown list of who did best on "Decision/Campaign '07".

#5. IETV. A community station with heart. Kudos for the separate segment called "Judgement Day 2K7", but like we said before, the apocalypse is perhaps still some ways away.

#4. TV6. A national station that has so many resources, but which were not put to best use during the elections; from reporter placement, to planning for live events, to actually going live. You've been around for 16 years, but at times Media Watch thought you showed the smarts of a brand new station with no experience. You missed the mark, but you have just five years to make it up to your viewers. Don't waste the opportunity.

#3. WIN TV. One of the new kids on the block which really tried to up the ante for the elections. They promised live video on election night and we got it. Sunil Ramdeen almost singlehandedly ran the show at the national station over the last couple of weeks after his newsroom was depleted. Take a bow Sunil. Now that it's all over, GET SOME SLEEP!

#2. CNC 3. Cable station. That says a lot. Not only were they launched just over two years ago, but they were able to make some serious inroads despite a high staff turn over. Shelly was a mainstay, as well as Roger. CNC managed to go live to the the PM's constituency on election night, but TV6 was nowhere to be found. Take a bow Rosemarie. You scooped your former bosses. Shows you planned ahead.

#1. CNMG. We have to admit that when Campaign 41 began more than five weeks ago, there was some scepticism that they would be able to pull off all that they were touting: live campaign rallies every night, reporters at various events on a daily basis with live video, live to the main political party headquarters on election night, a simulcast of morning radio and tv talk shows, a working website with streaming video and up to the minute results.
But CNMG you did not disappoint! You came through on all counts, albeit with just a few hiccups. You launched your campaign on the same night the election was announced, so you were way ahead of the competition from the word go! That's what live, planned tv is all about. And once again you are also a new kid on the block, so to speak, since your new incarnation was launched just months before the election. Kudos.

So that's Media Watch's list. But along the way there were some low points for all the media houses. In most cases, political propaganda was passed off to an unsuspecting audience as investigative journalism. Where were the hard questions for the annoying politicians who were trying to pull the wool over our eyes? Where were the live pictures we were waiting to see from the political rallies? TV6 promised but failed to deliver. They did deliver Extra, which did not live up to expectations.

Even Synergy TV got in on the act, Jason Williams scoring a one on one with the PM. Kudos Jason. But next time please resist the urge to match your lightly coloured grey suit with suede shoes of the same colour. Ugh! And Sasha Mohammed, try to comb your hair and ask your cameraman not to give you so many close ups. Curtis Williams try not to swallow your words when you are live.

TV6 you took long commercial breaks to a new low over the weekend before the election with breaks as long as 9 minutes! Do you know how many people switched channels because you were obviously more interested in cashing in on the season than providing quality coverage to your viewers? For 15 minutes of breaks you had just nine minutes of local news. Steups! Once again, we hope your employees who busted their butts over the last few weeks will also cash in when the cheques hit the bank.

Well Gayelle, your elections coverage was not memorable, so forgive us for not including you on our countdown.

And to the rest of you. Some good work overall, but there is always room for improvement. Good luck next time around.

REACTIONS TO PNM WIN

Well CNC 3's lead story was the Chamber of Commerce reaction to the PNM's win. The station also later had Nadalene Singh reporting on FITUN/OWTU's reaction to the win. A very good story angle. Kudos.
Of course the natural leads as well were the PNM win, the PM breaking from tradition by holding the swearing in ceremony at Woodford Square, Basdeo Panday's "vitriolic" speech at Rienzi Complex (Sasha this is one time you can use that word with confidence!), and reactions from some of the winning candidates. Vasant Bharath's was one of the best. Very professional.

But on a point of order: CNC 3 and CNMG went live to Patrick Manning's San Fernando East office last night for live coverage when Mr Manning was declared the winner of his seat. Where was TV6?

And CNC, while Francesca Hawkins is one of the best presenters out there, did you forget that she was once associated with the UNC? Why did you choose to send her to Rienzi Complex? (Reminds us of when Dr Morgan Job interviewed Basdeo Panday on the Morning Edition some months ago; he was a minister in the former UNC government).

Raymond Edwards over at C News, Media Watch was really happy your teleprompter did not break down because you did not have any scripts in front of you; your hands were folded on the desk and you looked uncomfortable reading the news. Unlike Fabian Pierre who looked really comfortable.

LONG HAUL

Well CNMG take a bow, you proved that you had the stamina to outlast all the other stations with your election night coverage, climaxing six weeks of campaign/election coverage, beginning on the night the election date was announced.

Long after your competitors went to sleep, your panellists were still discussing the results, and long after most voters dozed off, you were replaying the victory and defeat speeches, for anyone who missed them. Kudos.
Now that it's all over, we can all get some sleep without the blaring music and loudspeakers and annoyingly long commercial breaks.

PRESENTER BITS

Well everyone (almost) got a piece of the action on election day. We had lots of people that we would normally see in the evening out on the streets in the morning, like Curtis Williams, Naette Lee, Neil Beekhee and Satesh Mahabir. Keisha David was the only one out and about for TV6 in the morning, yet she was also out live for the evening results. Where was everyone else in the morning?

Later in the day, Sherwin Long of C News introduced us to a new style of reporting - the stand up, sot, stand up, sot, stand up story. Sherwin interviewed several people in Toco Sangre Grande and decided we should see him more than anything else. There was not even a shot of people entering or leaving the polling station. Steups! He probably told himself this is the night for the highest viewership for the next five years so he better make the most of it.

Then CNC sent Roger Sant to Balisier House. Eh? What's up with that Rosemarie? Nepotism stepping in? OK so you had Shelly on set coordinating things with the results and the live interviews and tossing back to the studio panellists (and shouting at the viewers). So what happened to Sampson? Media Watch is throwing out the question. Where is Sampson? Ok so we heard him on the Panday story, but he's not good enough for anything else? Don't you think he's suffered enough? Just shows up your lack of staff.

Then over at TV6, again we see Keisha David at the COP headquarters in the evening. Keisha we hope they at least let you get some rest during the day before you went to Chaguanas. But someone should have asked you to wear a jacket before you did your live reports.
And again as Media Watch predicted, there was no way the powers that be could leave out Bobbi Jeffrey Hicks. She handled the PNM at Balisier House. Charlene Stuart was in San Juan Barataria. Not sure why they pulled her off the PNM beat. But Bobbi now that the election is behind us, let's see what other uses they will put you to.

And there was a Freudian slip from Sasha Mohammed on more than one occasion when she said the UNC candidates were going to Rienzi Complex to celebrate victory. Then she caught herself and said they weren't going to celebrate winning the election just yet, but their individual victories. She did the same thing on Saturday at the Aranguez rally when she kept referring to it as the "Victory Rally" and not saying that this was what the UNC was calling it. Tut tut Sasha.

Oh, one person we wish we did not have to see was Judy Raymond on the TV6 set on Morning Edition. Andy, please do not subject us to her again. Judy we liked you better when we didn't have to see you sneering at us for the entire interview. Andy cajoled and smiled with you, even trying to make light of pulling you out of your bed early, but you just sneered throughout the interview and spoke in a nasal voice. Steups! Who held a gun to your head to keep you on the set? Well we'll think about reading your column from now on.
And Judy, we hear there's a flat iron over at 11A Maraval Road!

WEB ELECTION

CNMG and The Express carried updates of the election results, but there were some fundamental differences.
CNMG had streaming video with a two minute delay, as well as up to the minute results from the various polling stations. Their in studio panel also had lap top computers so they could also access the results without the piles of paper that were evident at TV6 and CNC3.

Express on the other hand had updates but they were not quick enough. (But we also have to ask the station's management why TV6 did not have an interactive website as well, but their newspaper was left the task of doing election updates.)
But there were no results at all for some constituencies, like Diego Martin North East and D'Abadie. And the new party was not represented at all in the Tobago constituencies.

And the spelling was off on most of them as well. "Deigo Martin", Nadra Nathai-Gyan is studying "Botony", Mr Vasant Bharat, and where are "St. Anne's West" and "St. Anne's East" located? Then there was "Princess Town North", "Princess Town South/Tableland", "Chaugunas East", "Chaugunas West", "Point-A-Pierre", "Toco/Sande Grande". No one checked these things before they were posted?

EXCITEMENT!

Shelly Dass' voice pitch is steadily rising as the excitement builds and the results poor in. She is shouting at her audience and this is very annoying.

Panellists galore after 6pm:
CNC - economist Dr Dhanayshar Mahabir, political analyst Derek Ramsamooj, political analyst Professor John La Guerre, consumer activist Hazel Brown. The virtual set is very red.

C41 - attorney & former independent senator Dana Seetahal, political analyst Dr Hamid Ghany, PNM rep. Overand Padmore, COP rep. Sadiq Baksh, UNCA rep. Vashist Maharaj, education lecturer Dr Winford James, government student Adam Andrews, former opposition MP Dr Fuad Khan.

TV6 - Harold Hoyte (Barbados Nation), Peter Wickham (political analyst from Barbados), social activist Folade Mutota, political analyst Ann Marie Bissessar.

WIN TV - Hans Hanoomansingh and later Sunil Ramdeen on the set with Robin Montano and Nizam Mohammed.

IETV - economist and former independent senator Mary King and another gentleman. But your virtual set graphic is very busy and the camera angles are a bit off.

Of course there were the requisite live interviews both by telephone and with video. CNC went to Neil Beekhee by phone at the UNC office in Tabaquite, TV6 went live to Keisha David at the COP office in Chaguanas, live to Bobbi Jeffrey Hicks at Balisier House, and to Sharmilla Persad on the phone in Fyzabad. CNC also had Francesca Hawkins live at Rienzi Complex.
Wendell Constantine is doing a fantastic job at C News, pulling all the elements together, as well as Julian Rogers with the panel. He along with Francesca and Sandra Maharaj are three of the best presenters around today. We need to see more of them. Take note younger ones: they don't over-dramatize the news, and they keep it professional.

Why do Sasha Mohammed, Shelly and Curtis Williams insist on using the word "gotten"? So you think it sounds good? 'So and so "has gotten votes"'. Well "gotten" is not in the English dictionary. Stop using it.

C News website has streaming video and up to the minute election results, but alas their website went down sometime after 8pm, probably too many hits. But it was good while it lasted.

ELECTION DAY - FINALLY!

Of course the story of the day is the PM voting - TV6, CNMG and CNC 3 started with that. Wendell Constantine a different face - reading news/ pulling the elections elements together for CNMG. No sign of Naette and Charlene Ramdhanie. C has Golda Lee at COP headquarters in Chaguanas; Curtis Williams at Balisier House; and Hema Ramkissoon at Rienzi Complex.

They all had Basdeo Panday, Winston Dookeran and Jack Warner as well as some of the voting irregularities.
Shelly why were you shouting at your audience? Sampson Nanton had their story on the Pandays. CNMG also had a story out of Toco Manzanilla.

TV6's Bobbi Jeffrey-Hicks is at the PNM's headquarters at Balisier House. What happened to Charlene Stuart? She has been covering the PNM for the entire campaign. Well Media Watch did say they would have to find some work for Bobbi this week. Karen Cozier Phillip gave the first set of results at 7:10 from a polling station in St Augustine.

The CNC has Satesh Mahabir at the COP headquarters and Marcia Braveboy in St Augustine, Francesca Hawkins at UNC's Rienzi Complex, and Neil Beekhee at the PNM office in Tabaquite. And they have sports anchor ROGER SANT at Balisier House. What about Sampson Nanton? Where is he at?

At 7:15 WIN TV went to a music video on Brian Lara. What gives? Then we saw Gideon Hanoomansingh reading the news and eventually interviewing Robin Montano and Nizam Mohammed.

TV6 had a story on youth/first time voters, as well as those who chose to stay away and go to the beach instead. Interesting. Then live to Sasha Mohammed at Rienzi Complex. Posture Sasha. Stand up straight. At 7:30 TV6 went to a telephone report from Marcia Hope in Mayaro giving some preliminary results.

CNMG's Hema Ramkissoon at Rienzi Complex looks very tired. Her face is very shiny and she looks like a deflated balloon. Maybe she just needs to sit down and catch her breath.

WIN TV, CNC3 and CNMG all have nice graphics with the candidates, but TV6 what's up with yours?

And Shelly continues to shout at her audience and she is speaking realllly fast. Why? The excitement must be getting to you too, but keep it on the down low for your viewers.
CNMG live to Curtis Williams at Balisier House.

TV6 why did you go with a full sportscast on a night like this? Why not just give the main sports headlines and stick to election stories. Think outside the box.

CNC's Roger Sant spoke with John Donaldson at Balisier House, but that did not look like live video. They are close enough to Port of Spain to ferry tapes back and forth. Live to Francesca Hawkins at Rienzi.

Karen Cozier Phillip on the phone again from St Augustine for TV6.
CNMG kudos to you - your panel taking in the results on lap top computers as they come in and giving instant analysis.

TV6 recapped headlines at 8.05 then went to Andy Johnson with his panellists. TV6 went to Keisha David at COP headquarters in Chaguanas live. Went to Charlene Stuart on the phone, but she was not hearing Andy so they cut her out and came back to her a little later.

8:45AM

Finally TV6 has a phone interview with Elizabeth Allard-Williams out of Tobago. Oops, isn't she Williams-Allard? Your graphic is all wrong. Keisha David was apparently on the phone much earlier for TV6 but it was probably so brief that we missed it.

CNMG wraps up its First Up coverage at 9AM, Julian Rogers joins Jessie and Fazeer on the set outlining the coverage for the evening news and following up on the polls, naming some of the people who will be on the set.

We'll keep you posted if we figure out who the other stations will have on set.

Another report from Elizabeth and her name graphic is still wrong.

8:35AM

At 8:35am, TV6 finally gives us an update on what's happening at the polling stations with a recorded interview with Jack Warner upset at the fact that his sons were given some "pressure to vote", and Winston Dookeran on what he expected AHEAD of his vote.
TV6 where are your field reporters?? The polls have been open for close to three hours and we have not heard a word from them besides these two pieces.

ELECTION DAY - FIRST UP!

Kudos to CNMG for kick starting the election day coverage with a correspondent on the telephone from Tobago at 6:07. They were one of the few stations to think outside the box for this crucial day for coverage. Then they went to Sasha Harrinanan in south at 6.20.

TV6 started as usual with the news. But there were stories from the political rallies over the weekend with shots of supporters and symbols of the various parties. Isn't that a no-no on election day?? Then Andy Johnson came up and did the newspaper thing, then the station launched into an "address to the nation" by the EBC Chairman. But that piece was apparently supposed to be shown on Sunday evening because at one point Mr Masson said the parties should "cease campaigning at 12 midnight tonight."

CNC 3 started with Keith Clifford again doing the newspaper thing, and Cordielle came in soon afterward to interview a young man Ravi on the youth vote. Boring segment.

Sophia Khan Daniel came in to do the news at 6:30 on CNMG wearing very bold and almost shocking black and white stripes on her shirt with a very white collar. Well she confused the CG person as well because he/she put up Jessie Mae Ventour's name, then quickly rectified it. You need to keep it easy on the eye like Jessie, who was wearing more subdued stripes.

TV6 went to a recorded interview with Dr Selwyn Ryan discussing election issues, while CNC had a telephone interview with Neil Beekhee reporting from Tacarigua where he was waiting for Winston Dookeran. Then CNC had Radica Sookraj on the phone, she was waiting to see Basdeo Panday vote at Canaan Presbyterian.
CNMG then went to Mark Bassant who was also at Tacarigua awaiting the arrival of Mr Dookeran.
TV6 went to another recorded piece on women in the election race.
CNMG had Raymond Edwards on the telephone in Diego Martin reporting on some of the challenges/irregularities at a particular polling station.

CNC then had Suresh Seetaram in San Fernando relaying some irregularities with UNC supporters under a tent who were "threatened by police".

So far nothing from the field from TV6. Where were your reporters? Did you even have a plan? Over the weekend CNC 3 used their Guardian tv guide to outline a broad plan of coverage for election day, and CNMG has been keeping viewers/listeners up to date with all the election issues with their new website.

TV6 actually had content with the recorded pieces, but there was nothing else until Aiyegoro Ome came on the set with Andy at 7.48. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

In the 7 o'clock hour, CNC 3 had Radica Sookraj on the phone reporting on the same San Fernando UNC irregularity, C News had Khrystal Rawlins on the phone in Point Fortin, and also Curtis Williams reporting live from Rio Claro, we saw live video from the polling station. Naette Lee was on the phone for C News, while WIN TV had phone interviews from Tobago.

TV6 went to a recorded interview with Courtney Boxill, and there were cover shots of Patrick Manning canvassing and on the political platform with the PNM symbol behind him. WIN TV went to
Naylan Dwarika who was at the polling station with Winston Dookeran. CNC 3 had a vox recorded by Otto Carrington with people at the Belmont Junior Secondary polling station complaining about the lack of electricity, while CNMG had Joanne Briggs on the phone in Maloney.
CNC went to an EBC Commissioner on the phone reiterating some of the rules and regulations for voting.

Then WIN TV went to Reay Greaves on the phone in Diego Martin, while CNC played a phone interview with Winston Dookeran which was recorded by Neil Beekhee. He was urging electors to vote for change. Isn't that kind of interview supposed to be used AFTER the polls are closed? Well Neil came back and said they "were spoking" with Mr Dookeran. Star struck Neil? Then he paraphrased Mr Dookeran's speech, saying Mr Dookeran is "moving ahead to take over the reins of power, and he is not aware of any accommodation between the COP and the UNC".

Gayelle had an interesting piece called "The first time I voted", with the station's personalities giving their take on their first election experience. TV6 then went to a recorded piece with Josanne Leonard interviewing Dr Bhoe Tewarie in their studio.
CNMG's radio "boss" Gail Seegobin got in on the act of reporting from her polling station. Good idea.
At 7.48 Andy Johnson had Aiyegoro Ome on the set. CNMG had Sola James on the phone from Tobago, while CNC had Otto Carrington at St Anthony's College.
Then CNC showed the video of the media interviewing Winston Dookeran. A strange sight was that the TV6 mic flag was very visible in Mr Dookeran's face, so TV6 why didn't we see any video from the polling station?

Cordielle why did you insist on saying "presbytArian" and "Elections and Boundaries Committee"?
CNC's coverage ended at 8am, while Nadalene Singh said "voting have started" in her news update. Then TV6 in their 8am report showed file video of Mr Dookeran again on the hustings, but saying that he "was expected" to vote at 6:30 am with his wife. Well why didn't your reporter at Tacarigua update you on the fact that he had already voted??

WIN TV had Janelle Pascall on the phone from Cunupia with video from the polling station, as well as they showed her interview with the PNM candidate. Again. Why show this piece before the polls close? It's still campaigning.

At 8:10 TV6 brought on Jawara Mbota on the set to join Mr Ome, while I95 covered the polling stations with several reporters on the phone around the country.

CNMG take a bow. TV6 get your act together. 8:30am and not a single live report from a polling station. STEUPS! Even WIN TV beat you to the punch.

FINAL RALLIES

The final rallies from all the political parties had some hilarious moments.

All the television stations went live at some point. IETV - COP, CNC 3 - UNC (taking feed from TV6), NCC - PNM (feed from CNMG), TV6 - UNC, CNMG - PNM, Gayelle - UNC (feed from TV6), IBN - COP (feed from IETV), WIN TV - UNC, Synergy - PNM (feed from CNMG).
IBN run a ticker apologising for the poor video quality coming from live feed (from IETV).

At one point Kamla Persad Bissessar started singing along with Tracy Chapman's "Revolution". No clue why the audio man did not cut her off.

There was lots of entertainment, and most of the stations attempted to go live to their reporters at the various rallies. CNMG had Curtis Williams and Charlene Ramdhanie anchoring their broadcast at the PNM rally (and later we heard they may be in some hot water with the COP's lawyers).
TV6 had reporters on the ground - Keisha David at the COP rally, Sasha Mohammed at UNC and Charlene Stuart at PNM.
Synergy TV also had a "correspondent", appropriately dressed in strappy top and flowing hair perhaps ro appeal to their youth audience; she was interviewing performers as they left the stage.
Her questions devoid of any serious thought. She asked one young woman "How do your friends and family feel about the election 2007?". And she told the same young lady that so many overseas based performers are coming down to support the youth of the nation, "How do you feel about that?" Was she taking pointers from Simone?

PM ANSWERS

Well the Prime Minister finally got a chance to answer questions from members of the mainstream media, but it was a production of the government information service. It aired on WIN TV, CNMG, CNC 3 and TV6 late Friday evening.
His interviewers were Rosemarie Sant (Head of News at CNC), Ria Taitt (political reporter at the Newsday), and Anthony Wilson (Editor of the Business Guardian).

Several questions arise. Who chose the panel? You have two print reporters, and two of them (Wilson and Sant) from the same media house. What happened to the other media houses, print, television and radio? Were they included in the potential list? Or were these three the only ones who wanted to interview the PM at his bequest? Well the perception is that the interview was at the PM's bequest since none of the stations created any promos saying they were going to have the all-important interview with him (except for Jason Williams at Synergy, who got an exclusive, and even that is suspect).

The interviewers all seemed a bit soft on Mr Manning, as if they didn't want to upset him with hard questions, and they let him ramble on and on without too much interruption. They sounded as if they were speaking to a baby, in soft subdued tones.
And they all asked questions looong questions. At one point Mr Manning asked Ria "Which part would you like me to answer first?" Then Rosemarie asked a series of questions on crime and he again started to answer by saying "First of all....".
Close to the end of the interview, Anthony Wilson tried to ruffle the PM by asking him why people perceive him as having dictatorial tendencies. Mr Manning smiled and said "I have no idea" and Anthony burst out laughing. What was so funny? That he sidestepped you so easily? Then he launched into a monologue on weak and strong leaders.

At the end of it all they each dutifully said "Thank you Mr Prime Minister" (and we almost expected them to give a little curtsey or bow).
Steups! Yes thanks indeed Mr PM for showing up our "toothless bulldogs" just like Nalon Dwarika said!

FRIDAY NEWS

IETV, your video output at the start of the 6.30pm news on Friday evening was so poor Media Watch is guessing many of your limited viewers switched off after five minutes.
At first Media Watch thought your cameraman was to blame for the overexposed video on that story with the environmental protestors, but then when we saw it extended to the T&TEC story with Kamla Persad Bissessar, then to Devanand Ramlal's response, then the COP meeting, as well as the first two commercials in the first break we knew there was a problem. Well at that point a really bad headache and eye strain set in so we switched.
Thankfully after the break the problem was fixed by your engineers.
But why did you have Giselle McIntyre voice the first three stories? And why is Maxine Maharaj sitting behind a desk so high that she looks like a receptionist?

CNMG began with Julian Rogers giving a rundown of the station's weekend election coverage; it was very long and perhaps should have been done just before the first break.
TV6 began with the release of PC Tota Maharaj who was charged with killing Joel Caton Jnr. Well Cherise D'Abadie said he was Joel "Cat-on". Her producer probably shouted the correct pronunciation in her ear because thankfully she came back in the next sentence with the right thing.
And even though your producer wanted to start with that story, it should have been done differently. We are in height of the election season, so naturally elections stories lead. So you could have started by reading a few lines from the main elections story, then say "We'll come back to those stories, but first..." and then go to the Caton story.

CNC 3's Shelly Dass began with a voice over with Police Commissioner Trevor Paul saying the police will give their full support on election day, then they went to Patrick Manning saying the PNM will win the election.
CNMG's first story was Hema Ramkissoon on Kamla Persad Bissessar and the CCA light poles. All the stations wrote about Basdeo Panday wooing motorists, but if you joined CNMG while that story was in progress, there was no way to figure out who voiced it since the natural sound at the end drowned out the reporter's voice.

WIN TV began with politics as well, but somewhere along the line they went to a packaged story on the COTT awards by 7:10, complete with Machel Montano and his entourage, Destra Garcia singing and special guest Billy Ocean. Then Sunil went to a report out of New York from Andrew Bruce on how Trinis living abroad feel the candidates did not deal with issues on the campaign trail.
Then about 15 minutes later, Sunil cues another package from the same COTT awards from the same reporter, Reay Greaves! This one had sound bites from Howard Chin Lee and a shot of Lord Nelson. So Sunil, why did you instruct her to cut the story in two?

But the best story of the night was CNC 3's "exclusive" interview with UNC A candidate Lennox Smith and his wife. In Sampson Nanton's story, Miss Guerra read a prepared statement admitting that she was paid to make what she called "false" statements against Mr Smith. She said she wanted to clear her conscience out of love for him, and denied she was offered money to retract her statement. (She deserves a Cacique). So spliced into the story are shots of them staring into each other's eyes and hugging each other. Then at the very end, they locked lips! EWWW! When Shelly came back on air she looked either like she was going to throw up or laugh out loud.
Mr Smith broke the story in the Express so technically he couldn't go back to them to say Oops! she made a mistake, but he went to a cable station? How many people saw that story?
Thankfully at least the lip lock was chopped out for the 10pm news.

No live video from the campaign trail tonight, and we'll forgive everyone involved since they are likely preparing for the marathon of political rallies in Port of Spain, Aranguez and Tacarigua on Saturday. But CNMG had Hema Ramkissoon and Golda Lee on the telephone from the hustings with the COP and the UNC A.
But Julian, when Hema reported that Suruj Rambachan said Eudine Job Davis had resigned from the PNM, Media Watch was expecting you to have someone call her up and immediately confirm or deny it so you could use that in your 9pm newscast. What was the problem?
No phone interviews from TV6. Guess the reporters all preparing too.

Naette Lee looks great! She cut her hair and it looks soft with a nice sheen and it frames her face. It makes her look mature and professional, along with the black and white outfit and the string of pearls, instead of just some teeny bopper filling her time by reading the news before going to the club.

Well the TV6 Extra was a recap of the "issues" they've dealt with in the last few weeks, but each and every piece turned out to be a music video. Maybe if you had light content that would have been fine, but it just seemed as if you were making a mockery of this serious business of elections.
First you had the recap on Kamla Persad Bissessar's snub by the UNC, to the sounds of David Rudder's "Bacchanal Woman" and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You". Then you moved to "Dollar Wine", referring to the amount of money spent on the campaign trail, Sparrow and Machel helped the candidates pitch their message, and a medley of the campaign songs.

The one thing you finally got right was the short, succinct soundbites from the young people. That's how it should have been done throughout the series, rather than one looong piece from each youth each night.
And Bobbi bid us farewell, saying this was the end of the Extra series. So pray tell what will the powers that be at TV6 do with Bobbi from next week?

And TV6 what was the point of once again extending your two hour newscast by 15 minutes? The news went to 8:45 and the TV6 Extra ended at 9:15, but Media Watch did not notice an over-abundance of news. What we did notice was an over-abundance of political ads! At one point you did one short story then took a break, then the story out of Tobago then another break.
Well that's what happens when you put sweetie managers in charge of a media house. At the end of the day we hope the profits (which Bobbi told us is more than $1M) trickle down to your employees. Do you even care that your product is being compromised, while your viewers have to sit through ten minutes of ads to see one story?

BAD JOHN?

Well, well, Nalon Dwarika of WIN TV seems to be a bad john. On his "Conversation with the Nation", a caller apparently expressed some concerns about security for voting in Santa Cruz. Well Mr Dwarika said "Santa Cruz police station if you watching, don't let me have to come down there with a camera. Just go up to that polling station and give those people some protection for this election."
Steups! Did you substantiate the woman's claim before you tried to bully the police? Well considering you told another viewer that the Media Association is a "toothless bulldog or a toothless pussycat", then Media Watch is guessing you want to take up the baton?

Then another person called and asked why some story was not followed up by the national media several weeks ago, and you told him "...stories like that will not slip through the cracks at WIN TV." Well clearly that story did because your "newsroom" did not report on it.

ENGLISH LESSONS!

Does anyone recognise these words? Laqtal, Talacommunications Authority, sairious, pairiod.
They are not in any dictionary Media Watch knows about, yet they are being broadcast over the airwaves as if they were proper English. For God's sake, get some English lessons you two!
Steups!

LIVE, LIVE, LIVE

All the stations are now jumping on the "LIVE" bandwagon, with coverage of the COP meeting in Waterloo.
CNMG, WIN TV; IETV, Gayelle and IBN taking the feed from WIN.
TV6 recorded Winston Dookeran's speech from CNMG and carried it delayed following their 10pm news.
Only CNC 3 and Synergy did not carry any political meeting.
TV6 there was a scrolling promo running across your screen with some serious spelling problems. Media Watch is not sure if that came with the package from CNMG, but it was awful.
Anmarie Scott, Wood Brook Playboyz, St Margret's Junction.

AND kudos to Synergy TV for that one hour interview with Prime Minister Patrick Manning on Wednesday evening.
Jason Williams spoke with Mr Manning, along with UNC A Leader Basdeo Panday and COP Leader Winston Dookeran (separately of course).
But the question we need to ask is, how come Mr manning chose to go on a cable station with limited viewership yet he has not appeared for a one on one interview with any of the national stations? Did anyone even try to get him to come on? We have seen Mr Panday and Mr Dookeran making the rounds of the national stations, but not the PM.
Well it is a strategy for Mr Manning to address youth voters who probably mainly look at Synergy. But it may not have been Jason's charm that led the PM to Synergy, since a member of the PM's cabinet has shares in the station.
But however it played out, the national stations need to ask themselves what they did wrong.

MORE COVERAGE

Election coverage is definitely heating up, with the noon news reporting on all three political meetings.
The PNM's meeting last night generated the news that Patrick Manning is urging supporters to come out in their numbers to vote. But CNMG led with crime...a man shot to death by a motorist and an elderly woman stabbed to death.
CNC's Rosemarie Sant says the parties are upping the ante, but Rose where is your staff? You voiced both the PNM and UNC stories. You and Sunil Ramdeen at WIN TV are the two heads of news departments who seem to be doing more voice work than your staff.

CNC had somewhat of a scoop, with Nadalene Singh reporting on the kidnapping plot against Winston Dookeran (from their morning show).

TV6, why do you have to detail all the artistes the UNC will be bringing in for its final rally on Saturday? Free advertising for them. You can say they will have overseas acts, but let them pay to tell the public who will be here.
Fabian Pierre, you need to give your viewers a transition from one story to the next...maybe look down at your script, pause for two seconds or just say "In other news...". You did not indicate there was a change in mood/stories from Gillian Lucky and the blood feud to the elderly woman who was killed.

Keisha David, as far as Media Watch is aware, cabinet meets and Parliament sits. Your story on the protest outside White Hall said they wanted to get the attention of members of "...cabinet at its last sitting today."

And TV6 a little research will tell you the blimp has been circling the skies for more than a week, but then you probably already saw that in the newspapers.