Perspective: Did Portia Felt Betrayed by Falconer et al … Hence tossing them under the Bus …?

 

When in a recent interview Portia said she was not asked to be interviewed and if such requests were made they were not passed to her … has left a lot of persons shaking their heads in disbelief. Disbelief because it is well documented that Portia as PM was repeatedly asked for interviews and her handlers allegedly never arranged to make such requests a reality. We are now hearing that there were never any such requests made … or something like that. We are really not sure who to trust or believe in. Who is being truthful?

We would hate to believe the former PM was lying but we fail to believe her account of our requests for media interviews.

It is open secret that for reasons better known to the Portia’s team, she was apparently deliberately shielded from the media.

Portia complained at one point that she does not want any journalist poking any microphone in her face. There was a definite anti media “policy.” In short the media was obviously seen as persona non grata.

Poetic Commentary

Media people you should not court …
They will send bad report …
Keep them at a distance …
Alas! They can be a nuisance …

They push microphone in my face …
This is not of great taste …
If not told before … do not want to look stupid …
I just want to look pretty like Cupid …

Resurrection

To understand why Portia could feel betrayed by Falconer … you need to examine the history and rise of Falconer after being “resurrected” by Portia. Portia appointed Falconer as her Information Minister and before Falconer could be so elevated she had to be appointed a Senator. Under the Constitution you are allowed to appoint a limited amount of ministers from your 15 member Senate appointees.

Falconer worked at the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC). At JBC she mainly read the news and when that job went “she was not known to be doing anything considered meaningful.” On coming to power in 2012 Portia virtually “dusted her off” and give/appointed her to the position of Senator and then defacto Minister of Information.

There were persistent complaints about the attitude and conduct of Falconer whose abrasive and confrontational approach to dispensing her duties turned off her former colleague journalists. This was a serious betrayal of trust as journalists were feeling proud that one of their own was elevated to a position of prominence.

Information never flowed and Falconer was overly defensive. In fact she was seen as standing in the way of real information flow and on most occasions said she did not have basic facts. She was likely seen as a mere political activist who lacked any semblance of professionalism.

Comments attributed to Falconer as relayed by a caller to feedback segment of “This Morning” a popular magazine show, purporting to be saying “journalists lacked professionalism” solicited this response from George Davis, one of the co-hosts “she was never a good Journalist or Information Minister” … Davis was obviously referring to Falconer, although he avoided calling her by name. We had celebrated “World Press Freedom Day.” There was a question asked about the quality of journalists today.

Many felt Portia tossed her close aides under the bus for her own personal survival. Is this so?

As usual the verdict is yours.

If this report is accurate … it is the first time Falconer would have spoken her silence publicly since February 25, 2016. Is Falconer still shell shocked?

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is Senior International Correspondent & photojournalist for Vision Newspaper Canada.