In de spirit ah transparency, ah have tuh say I use tuh love de Trinidad Guardian. Dat was when it had ah forum an Trinis all over de world, along wid fresh water Trinis, connected wid one annuder. It was amazin de amount ah we who eh had no life in dem days.

Times change. Whoever want tuh put mih tuh lie dong orn ah couch in dey orfice an ask mih why ah feel dat now de newspapers in Triniland fallin dong on de job, go get ah earful. Dey go hear de obvious reasons, buh since dey is professionals, dey probably go reach deep into mih sub conscience an find out tings somebody who always lookin fuh reasons tuh love, eh realize dong dey.

All I know is dat because de papers doh provide what I tink is ah appropriate level ah reportin, citizens ah T&T not gettin de information dey need tuh make decisions dat in dey best interest.

Ah base dat orn several tings. One is seein ah story in each newspaper buh wid facts so different, all yuh know fuh sure is dat someting happen tuh somebody someplace at sometime. Dat kind ah reportin by itself not enough tuh shape anybody mind, but it give cause fuh pause unless yuh satisfied wid gettin yuh news from only one ah dem newspaper. Not me. I want confirmation of who, what, where, why an when.

Even so, yuh might still realize it eh really have no substance tuh plenty ah de stories. Reportin is not like eatin cotton candy.

Real investigative reportin? What is dat? Anybody wid ah agenda could use de papers as dey megaphone since reporters doh really poke tuh see eef what yuh tellin dem go stand up tuh scrutiny.

Since de papers gorn online, yuh would tink dat mean dey news cycle no longer daily. Ah steups at dat lie. it not uncommon tuh see ah story ornline dat so stale, eef it was hops bread an de parlor was givin it away, people would say no tanks.

I eh torkin about international stories, me eh care about dem right now. It have enough outside options tuh get current news from anyway. Buh ah does still get vex when ah have tuh go tuh dem same outside options tuh get de results ah games involvin Trinilanders.

Mih real beef is where tings reach when it come tuh bloggers. De Express, or at least de free version ah de Express, is nuttin more dan ah means fuh dat newspaper tuh tease stories wid useless snippets. Nobody does bodder tuh comment orn useless snippets ah teased stories. Mih only knowledge ah what yuh does get when yuh subscribe tuh de true or full stories is from ah pardnah who opinion ah trust. He say he done cancel he subscription.

Dat leave de Guardian. Dem 473 words above was always leadin mih right back tuh de Guardian.

Ah wonder how dey Digital Guardian goin. Eef I had tuh guess ah would say it subscriptions stable buh when de amount move, is dong it does go. Ah know how well received de forum of de early 2000’s was, so ah could be rong no tail. Buh what Trini doh like freebes.

De way people does get dey news change since dem days. Some might say I barely make dat change mihself den ah stop evolvin while de changin continuin. Ah reject dat idea as ah watch newspapers tryin tuh balance content wid what readers sayin in dey comments.

Eef yuh never read reader comments let mih tell mih save yuh de trouble. Too many ah dem bloggers are foul-mouthed judgmental ornline bullies who doh have boundaries. I tink is because dey tink dey cyar get cyatch. Dat frightenin as it make me wonder what else people would do eef dey tink dey go get away wid it.

More transparency?

I doh tink de NY Daily News is ah newspaper. It is ah joke dat believe de louder an more ridiculous it get an de more dotish it content get, de better it chances ah not goin belly up. Until it changed how it handled reader comments, readin it exposed yuh tuh ah level ah sleaze yuh eh had no way tuh avoid unless yuh stop readin dat rag. I used tuh feel like ah should wash mih eyeballs orf wid bleach after readin tings people livin in dey parents basements used tuh write an say. De onlyest ting ah find interestin in it saga is how it now does use Facebook tuh shield people interested in it version ah news from de sleaze bags.

What any ah dis have tuh do wid de Guardian? Everyting I say.

I know de potential ah Trinis in all aspects ah life, press included. All Trinis, press included. could live up dat potential. At de same time I eh want tuh prevent people from expressin dey opinion buh ah certainly eh want tuh read claims dat de country leader is ah chile rapist; de former leader is ah fallin dong drunk an it good blacks killin one anudder. Dem an worse does parse fuh comments in de Guardian. De level ah vitriol have tuh be turnin orf potential bloggers who might be dotish enough tuh be reasoned in dey comments. After dis larse one mih spirit ah transparency gone: I used tuh blog in de local papers.

Today, ah read de sad story ah de forestry workers who get trapped in de fire. Ah ask mihself how bloggers could spin dat into someting despicable. Certain it eh had no way, ah went tuh de comments. Damn, ah tell mihself. How come ah miss de fact dat all dese kind ah misfortune wasn’t goin orn before September 2015.

Is like some ah dem bloggers does get paid tuh show how nasty dey is an how good dey could blame present or past guvahments fuh anyting, hypocrisy be damned.

Most ah dem comments gorn parse picong, mauvais lange an fatigue. Dey have ah foreign undertone suggestin no grog eh sharin after de ole tork done. One blogger get called out de udder day. Quite in Canada she livin. Dey called-out blogger eye an dem must be bulge an she claim she social media account get hacked.

Eef Trinis didn’t invent fatigue, mauvais lange an picong, den is we who turn dem into art forms. Yuh could be ah Trini anyplace in de world, start limin wid udder Trinis ornline an dem abilities does bounce back up. Yuh eh have tuh do nuttin. So is not like I lorse mih navel string or anyting.

Ah guess mih question tuh de Guardian is simple. Does it tink de current approach of allowin bloggers de kind ah freedom dey have in de environment dey have is wukkin?

I go lie an say I hack dat blogger account.

Maybe de Guardian could do it own soul searchin wid de emphasis orn it potential.

All I want tuh do is be ah lovin fan again.