The commissioner will probe, the matter will be dealt with
Fri Aug 30, 2013
Editor: “Enter Dr Julesâ. On Friday, 9th August, 2013, The Newsâ front page article, depicted photographs of police officers standing in of front Police Headquarters, the day of the NDP march. The photograph singled out a policeman making a gesture, showing a finger to whom? I am not sure, except as to what was written, “A cameramanâ.{{more}} To add more effect and to include the officer who was looking to the right and at whom, I had no idea, the photographer, inserted another photo, captioned, “Disgustingâ. They then went on to make a big issue out of nothing. The acting police commissioner was interviewed, and as he rightly indicated, the matter will be addressed.
Enter Dr Ferdinand: “Clean your finger, before you point at my spotsâ and to cement his objection to such behaviour, he referred to an article some four decades ago (a decade is 10 years). Note his language, it was written by one of THEIR popular columnists, “Ad Astraâ, saying, “He who wants respect, must first show someâ. Then he went on to give a lecture on the use of the five fingers.
What is interesting? He wasnât sure if the police officer saw the constable pointing his finger, but he made this clarion call for the civic organisations to let their voices be heard, including an apology from the policeman; he even anticipated a spin on his article.
Now, for all intents and purposes, the offending policeman might be wondering why he was being singled out by The News, to focus on him using his finger to do what? What was his intention? Was he showing his finger to an NDP supporter?
Why no other journalists showed a similar picture?
Suffice to say, once the matter is investigated, this matter must be dealt with in- house by the Commissioner and not be done as suggested otherwise. This is a trivial matter blown out of context.
George Farrell
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