FAKE NEWS IS KING

 Although the foreign press makes a big deal out of fake news and regularly calls out politicians (and others) for spreading lies and false information, that 'habit' has not yet shown itself to be very prevalent down here in T&T. Whether that is through sheer incompetence of our local media, or it is caused by political bias is impossible to say. ( Frankly, I believe that it is a combination of both, but that will have to be a subject of another post).

But what is crystal clear is that we are very often not given the facts of a particular situation and are forced to make our own opinions which are often based not only on incomplete information, but also on our own personal biases. Take for example. the whole matter of the closure of Petrotrin; first question: was this closure really necessary or did it have something to do with the disastrous multi million dollar loss that was created by a certain PNM 'jefe'  who was sued by the PP Government under Kamla but  whose case was withdrawn by Dr. Rowley's people when they came into power? According to Prime Minister Rowley and his boys , this accusation is not true. They say that Petrotrin was shut down because it was losing money and was a drain on the Treasury. But published figures from just before the debacle hit showed that Petrotrin had several million dollars in the bank. What is true? 

Next question: does Mrs. Persad-Bissessar really have the majority support of her party, or did her team cheat at the internal election? Were any steps taken to prevent any cheating? If so, what steps exactly?

Next question again: is it true that Dr. Rowley's Government had no idea that the Indian billionaire talking about buying Petrotrin was out on bail and is facing corruption charges? Is it true that there is/was some kind of deal going on with this billionaire and the Venezuelan Government that is/was designed to circumvent American sanctions?

You see, both sides have some rather big possible skeletons in their respective closets. The above is just a small sample of questions that require answers and where there have been none, or at least, no proper answers to questions that, without full and clear explanations, give rise to unnecessary and unfortunate suspicions.

But we don't know. There is an illusory effect to believe false information when it is regularly repeated and that it is true when it is repeatedly presented. People tend to judge truth  based on familiarity with existing knowledge. So, the more a statement is repeated, the more accurate it seems.

We have a real problem. There is little or no factual reporting on important issues, and depending on which political side you happen to fall, will depend on what your opinions are - and not what they should be.  Fake news is king down here in T&T.