For Almost Two Years…
Since January 17, 2006, Barbados Free Press has been not only a publisher of news and information, this blog has been an open forum where Bajans and others have enjoyed the freedom to discuss issues and information that is censored from public discussion in the mainstream Barbados media.
We and our readers have called for accountability, integrity and transparency on the part of our elected and appointed government officials, and we don’t believe it is an exaggeration to say that Barbados Free Press has become an important force in Bajan politics and media.
The influence of Barbados Free Press and other Bajan blogs has been expanded by the recent introduction of “print editions” that are being distributed on paper and in emails to thousands of our fellow citizens who do not have daily access to the internet.
We have asked questions, raised issues and published information that infuriated the ruling political, news media and business elites who previously enjoyed control of the local information and news that Barbadians were able to access. One only has to look at how the entire Barbados news media ignored the current scandal involving flyover contractor Jonathan Danos and 3S Structural Steel Solutions to realise the tremendous forces involved in trying to censor news from ordinary Bajans. (BFP story links here and here)
Ongoing Government Attack Against Barbados Free Press And Freedom Of Information
For several weeks, agents of the Government of Barbados have attacked Barbados Free Press comments section with the intent of preventing Barbados citizens from freely discussing important issues. The recent publication of our print edition sent the government into a frenzy and resulted in a 24-hours-a-day non-stop deluge of the most vile comments being posted on BFP by agents of the Owen Arthur government.
The lives, families and homes of some of our commenters were threatened. The government thugs threatened to have at least two of our named commenters fired from their jobs. Another commenter was told that his business would be ruined.
Our lives and the lives of our families were openly threatened in our comments section by persons whom the Royal Barbados Police Force can readily identify with the information we will soon publish. That is… they could be identified should the police choose to uphold their honour, the law and citizens’ rights rather than devoting themselves to the service of their temporary political masters.
Comments Are Down – Visitors and New Visitors Are Up… Way, Way Up!
The staff of Barbados Free Press – Shona, George, Robert, Cliverton, Auntie Moses and Marcus – have been performing real time spam control about 20 hours a day, but when we step away from the old PC for even 15 minutes, the comments are filled up with such filth and violence that our ordinary commenters are not bothering to engage in discussion any longer.
That is the down side of what has happened during these past few weeks.
What has happened to our circulation is something that we could have only dreamed of a year ago…
Over 2 Million People Will Visit Barbados Free Press This Year
That’s unique daily visitors, not page views, folks!
Frankly, we are still in awe at the increase in visitors to BFP during the last two months. When we remove all the government attacks from the statistics, Barbados Free Press had over 200,000 daily visitors in August. To put this in context, the government BLP Blog has logged just over 44,000 visitors in the last seventeen months – since May of 2006. (Contrast Barbados Free Press visitors for August 27, 28 & 29, 2007 – 44,104 visitors during a three day period!)
Add our print edition and email distribution to those numbers and one can understand why the Government of Barbados feels it must stop Barbados Free Press and the other Bajan political blogs. Another month of flyers being left on ZR seats and there won’t be many Bajans who have not heard of the words “transparency”, “freedom of information laws”, “accountability”, “conflict of interest” and “integrity legislation”.
The dark corners cannot survive when sunlight reveals all.
All Comments Will Be Moderated At Least Once A Day – But Probably More Often
As Barbados Free Press is a spare-time venture of a group of concerned citizens, we have been forced to make a decision about allocating our time. We simply cannot keep up with the government paying four or five people working shifts to attack us 24/7 in a coordinated effort.
We would rather spend our time researching and writing hard hitting articles about the important issues facing Barbados than to spend a cumulative 20 hours a day sorting through a thousand vile and threatening comments.
Here is how we will run the comments section to allow our readers to continue to discuss issues while protecting them from the government attacks…
All readers’ comments will be held for daily moderation by one of our staff. We promise to sort through them at least once a day to remove the trash and approve the rest. The reality is that we will probably be approving comments every few hours. While this might limit some of the spontaneity of the discussion, at least our readers will not have to put up with the constant barrage of foul language and threats from government thugs.
We will use our regained time to research and write the articles that we know our fellow citizens want.
Tomorrow’s Work
Tomorrow we will post two articles that you won’t want to miss. First, we will tell you why the Codrington Family died in the collapse of their apartment building, and how criminal it was – because it should have been prevented. It was a tragedy, but it was no accident of chance.
Second, we will publish exclusive photos of the inside of Queen Elizabeth Hospital that will reveal the filth, despair and ruin resulting from the chronic under-funding, neglect and poor management of what was supposed to be the people’s hospital.
BUT RIGHT NOW…
We’re going to take a break tonight and have a few beer with folks who love Barbados and their fellow citizens more than I can describe. I will then go home and kiss my sleeping children and say the same prayer over them that I say every night. I will also promise them the same silent promise I make every night – to have my children grow up in a Barbados that is free of government corruption. A Barbados where rule of law, justice and honour are not subservient to the quest for material wealth.
In the morning my wife will open her eyes, and in that hazy time between sleep and awake when no person can hide their true feelings she will smile when she first sees me. I am truly a blessed man.
24 Comments
September 16, 2007 at 8:38 am
Let me be the first to congratulate you, on your new format for moderating comments. If things were different, maybe I, a night person, could have assisted you.
We , the BFP family, are looking forward to the promised articles, which I believe, are going to confirm some of the rumours we’ve heard going around.
Our prayers are with you and your family.
September 16, 2007 at 9:18 am
good decision BFP
This choice is a better use of your time directed at more thorough investigative journalism and preparing stories.
Just tell us what times we can make comments and we will log on for comments then.
Its great to see your readership is up many fold.
September 16, 2007 at 9:19 am
BFP you are so much needed in BIM now more than ever.
We can assure you that we have been disgusted by all of the mindless and dirty spam posted by our government.
They have lost our respect and our vote.
September 16, 2007 at 10:11 am
This is a sad consequence but something I think we all fully expected, to keep the discussion filth-free. I am amazed that you guys maintained the 20 hour cycle for so long. Maybe after the election bell has rung then we can return to the BFP of old.
September 16, 2007 at 11:39 am
We have a Government in disarray, such is their state that they seek to”mentally” club into submission the electorate, on whose votes they depend for office. BFP a web site they ridiculed, and then tried to ignore, has become their focus. They have used mental clubs and other such brutal devices, to silence its own citizens.
They have no concept of what Democracy means, for clarification it means: the rule of the people, at least it has since 510 BC in Athens, or to be more precise. I will use the literal ancient Greek word Demokratia: people power, and this is manifest today, when nimble and not so nimble fingers type on computers for submissions to BFP.
When people distribute the print editions of Barbados Free Press for others to see, on buses, Zr’s, in the malls, on the byways and other places.
It is the citizens of our country who speak with a new found voice. Like a modern day Peter on this blessed Sunday they are spreading the word, no amount of wolverine like visits in the night, seeking to turn a place of discourse into one of vile words, threats and abuse will stop the will of the people, the allegations of corruption have gone too far.
We now have a Big Man Government – substitute physical size for power – it is like something from the Neolithic- New Stone Age period- one man because he was bigger would tell others what to do, because he could beat them up, or would have his friends beat everyone up for him. I ask you in all honesty and fairness, is that what citizens of our country deserve.
A cheque for $750.000 deposited in a personal bank account, not an allegation my friends admitted in Parliament. A Prison contract overrun uncertainty as to if the contract was in Barbados or US dollars. Chinese immigrants working in Barbados on a major project. The Chief Immigration Officer saying he had no knowledge of then being here legally, the Minister concurred and yet they stayed.
Integrity and accountability are unused words, come up my friends, put your hands in the pot and take as you wish.
The citizens have had enough, one BLP commentator said Barbados is not Zimbabwe, have we reached the stage, where we have to be favorably compared with one of the most odious regimes on the planet, is that the state we are at?
September 16, 2007 at 11:57 am
Barbados replaced its aging Swing Bridge at great public expense.
It now serves as the most expensive pedestrian bridge in the world.
One would have thought that,
after spending a small fortune on hi-tech repairs,
that it may be just a teensy bit helpful to improving Bridgetown traffic efficiency
if motor cars might once again be allowed to traverse the new bridge,
thus alleviating about 50-60% of the vehicular traffic presently forced to make its way down Bay St., along Fairchild St.West, turning left
and over the Victoria bridge, as has been the case now for far too long.
WHAT is going on??
Does Government have to wait on some sort of clearance from engineers before light-vehicle traffic over said bridge can be resumed?
Motor cars make up the vast majority of vehicular traffic, and the present U-shaped traffic flow pattern up,across and down was intended to be temporary – it now seems to be permanent!
Bridgetown needs improved traffic flow,
and We The Motoring Public now appeal to the Commissioner of Police and his Traffic Superintendents to get behind the Ministry responsible
and let’s get some Bridgetown traffic EFFICIENCY, for a change.
Let’s avoid the traffic lights at Fairchild St. intersection, for God’s sake!
This illogical nonsense has been the situation now for at least a year, since the new bridge was completed.
Thank you for your attention to this situation
(can’t call it a problem until someone actually dies, and that ain’t gonna happen, is it?!)
September 16, 2007 at 12:20 pm
BFP
“I will also promise them the same silent promise I make every night – to have my children grow up in a Barbados that is free of government corruption. A Barbados where rule of law, justice and honour are not subservient to the quest for material wealth.”
What am amazing dream. .
Is it impossible for people like you to get a seat in parliament?
September 16, 2007 at 2:15 pm
If they are attacking you like that, why not encourage more citizens to start blogs? It will be more difficult for them to attack multiple blogs. Why not publish a “how to” in setting up blogs so that we the citizens can start our own thing? The opposition party will not help only you.
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BFP Comments
What a fabulous suggestion!
Golly, and we thought we were the possessors of ALL knowledge!
The suggestion for a printed edition came from a reader too. OK… we’ll write an article on citizen activism and post it at the top bar. It might take a couple of days but we’ll get to it.
Thx,
BFP
September 16, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Understood, sometimes you want to have things more freely but when people push you, you have to adapt and change your style, so I too support you in new stance. (just like I did when Ian B.. mention it the other night) And it is great to turn the table against them, for some people don’t understand that when you push some people, that you only make them more stronger, and more determined. Good luck, looking forward to those two strories. Until……..
September 16, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Blessings, BFP. Whenever and whereever, I will be there.
September 16, 2007 at 4:43 pm
What??????? comments to be moderated? I quite enjoyed looking at the foul and vile comments (2 or 3 before shutting down for the night)
Didn’t these comments show the mentality of those who posted the comments?
Thank you BFP for the news that I cannot access either through the Nation, The Advocate or the CBC.
I had looked forward to watching the evening news on line but having to pay for it? I don’t think so.
Cheers
September 16, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Sticking with BFP, will not always agree with what is posted, however its nice to have a civilized argument over the various topics that affect us all.
Is it possible to set up a schedule for the updating of comments, possibly every three hours between the hours of 6am and 9pm, that way bloggers will know when to check in for an update. Just a thought.
Keep up the good work.
September 16, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I totally support your move to monitor all comments. What the public needs to understand that first and foremost, this is a private blog in the sense that you reserve the right to reject any comment you wish and publish any comment you wish. As I said in my previous post, I too have that approach and since I am not running a business with it, comments just have to wait till I get around to them…..not only do people say all sorts of nonsense but they also seek to publish matters which, if left unchecked for a long period time, may make you liable for slander…I will continue to read you though…and keep up the good work!
September 17, 2007 at 4:00 am
Sadly I think that it will and has started to take away from the spontaneous nature of the blog and the interaction of those who partake of it regularly.
Could you not leave access for those you know to be regular and serious bloggers and moderate the unknown?
September 17, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I beg to differ….the nice person today is the monster tomorrow. I don’t beleive that it should be left open just like that. I know what you’re saying “Wishing in Vain” but the sad reality is that people just cannot be trusted…..
September 17, 2007 at 5:23 pm
This will be the death of this blog if you are not careful.
Surely there must be some way around this problem rather than long hours of inactivity.
September 17, 2007 at 7:05 pm
If people speak their minds frankly and have a position then it is easy to determine the wheat from the chaff.
Given what I have seen, I accept the need for moderation and I am hopeful that one of the results will be a measured approach to improving things in our country.
Real time interaction is fun and tests wit and spontoneity but sometimes it can go too far. The misuse of people’s handles also detracts from the conversation.
Moderation makes each one of us think seriously about what we say and at times we realise that to take a real action or position in the real world is easier than to react to words and just blow off steam in cyberspace.
When we talk we then talk from serious knowledge and experience and have a real, identifiable position, and we are making a difference by whatever considered action we take.
September 17, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I think you fellas need to have another lunch and rethink your decision about trying to put an end to spamming and malicious posts. Surely there is another way? I worry that your readership will seriously decline as it is frustrating to come to BFP looking for interaction on controversial topics and seeing the post number sit at “0″ for far too long. It’s not conducive to your posters to have thoughts, ideas and a desire to express those ideas as they occur and in conjunction with those of other posters.
September 17, 2007 at 10:12 pm
One has to react to events, as circumstances change one has to change with them. Often this is not ideal, but we have to consider what is the alternative. Although this situation is not as we would wish, we must consider the bigger picture and surely that is more important than any inconvenience we suffer.
We should not allow anyone to club us into submission, anything worth while is worth fighting for.
Sometimes we have to suffer a little to achieve a lot.
September 18, 2007 at 1:23 am
BFP…looks like y’all better invest in a Blackberry!.
**************
BFP say
Hi Jamaican Girl,
george here and not to up on the latest gizmos. How would that help?
September 18, 2007 at 12:43 pm
“Our lives and the lives of our families were openly threatened in our comments section by persons whom the Royal Barbados Police Force can readily identify with the information we will soon publish. That is… they could be identified should the police choose to uphold their honour, the law and citizens’ rights rather than devoting themselves to the service of their temporary political masters.” BFP
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In all fairness I do think the BFP should reveal this “information” thus giving the police a chance. In my case, you did not give the police a chance “to uphold their honour and citizens’ rights” etc since you never responded to my emailed request to pass on information re the threats made to me. I have already been a victim of crime and have had no problems with the police response and actions. However, the BFP’s non-response to my request, not even an acknowledgement of my email, are actions that have greatly undermined my confidence in you. I have not contributed in ages; I will read you sometimes. I submit that your rhetoric needs to be taken a step further and translated into positive action.
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BFP Replies
Dear Irene,
Firstly, let me apologise for all of us for not getting back to you in a timely manner. We were having a debate on whether or not to release the IP numbers because it is not as simple a decision as we would like it to be. We are not computer experts and frankly we are astounded that we have survived this long without our identities being revealed. We didn’t know if releasing the IPs would somehow lead to us being found, but our fears about the technical issue have been cleared up.
Someday when the story of BFP is told, hopefully folks will say “OH… so THAT’s how they posted and emailed without getting caught!” because if they are saying anything else we will have been discovered and in trouble.
While we don’t know much about you as a person (none of us have ever met you) and we don’t think much of your party’s leader or the DLP’s total lack of position or effectiveness on several key issues, we admire your personal courage for putting forward your ideas in an open political forum that is increasingly becoming dangerous for members of the opposition and their families.
We have made a decision to release the IPs of those who threatened you and others on this blog. We will publish the complete IPs and the exact time GMT that the threats were delivered – along with the wording of the threats. We understand that the internet service providers will be able to determine the exact computer and location of the computer – and thus the person making the threats – from this information
Insofar as what the police will do with them, well, good luck – because some members of the RBPF have unfortunately proven time and time again that democracy and the rule of law are secondary in their minds to serving the government in power.
September 18, 2007 at 2:24 pm
TO: Irene Sandiford-Garner
FROM: BFP (all of us)
BFP Replies
Dear Irene,
Firstly, let me apologise for all of us for not getting back to you in a timely manner. We were having a debate on whether or not to release the IP numbers because it is not as simple a decision as we would like it to be. We are not computer experts and frankly we are astounded that we have survived this long without our identities being revealed. We didn’t know if releasing the IPs would somehow lead to us being found, but our fears about the technical issue have been cleared up.
Someday when the story of BFP is told, hopefully folks will say “OH… so THAT’s how they posted and emailed without getting caught!” because if they are saying anything else we will have been discovered and in trouble.
While we don’t know much about you as a person (none of us have ever met you) and we don’t think much of your party’s leader or the DLP’s total lack of position or effectiveness on several key issues, we admire your personal courage for putting forward your ideas in an open political forum that is increasingly becoming dangerous for members of the opposition and their families.
We have made a decision to release the IPs of those who threatened you and others on this blog. We will publish the complete IPs and the exact time GMT that the threats were delivered – along with the wording of the threats. We understand that the internet service providers will be able to determine the exact computer and location of the computer – and thus the person making the threats – from this information
Insofar as what the police will do with them, well, good luck – because some members of the RBPF have unfortunately proven time and time again that democracy and the rule of law are secondary in their minds to serving the government in power.
September 18, 2007 at 4:26 pm
BFP….my suggestion of the Blackberry is that you will be able to approve or reject your comments on the move…..
September 18, 2007 at 4:43 pm
BFP do not get a Blackberry. Trust me. Do not change what you are doing.
Get a Blackberry and you will be found.
Wireless networks are not “secure”.