After I realised that the Lion Heart’s show last Thursday was a re-broadcast,
I grudgingly tuned to DBS.
If ever I wanted proof that Mr. Universe was facing “faculty
degeneration”, then “Talk” on Thursday night provided it irrefutably.
I tuned in to show at the point where the
ex-bodybuilder was hammering away at Facebook, alleging that it was unsuitable
for “any research”. I said “WOW” . . . What a stark contrast to what the BBC
reported: that Mark Zuckerberg affirms 99% of FB content is authentic. But being the “investigative journalist” that
Rick is, I said he must have stumbled on something tectonic; so, I took a deep
breath in anticipation of an impending earth-shattering falling meteor.
But there was no meteor! Not even a meteorite! Just a
disappointing pebble thrown by (what my 7-year grandson would refer to as) a “Dinosaurus”
which hardly caused a splash, or a ripple!
Neither did Tim’s prank (on Newspin on Monday),
courting Hilary’s concession speech; but give Tim some kudos for his
transparency and honesty. He conceded that his rationale for playing Hilary’s
speech (as his HBI) was to draw the contrast between Kenny’s concession speech which
he posted on FB and Hilary's phenomenal delivery on TV.
 |
| MARK ZUCKERBERG: FOUNDER OF FACEBOOK |
The bottom line here is both pressmen seem to have
issues with FB, albeit from different angles. One pontificates that FB is not
suitable for research; the other has a problem with the PMs “concession speech”
being delivered via FB, despite the fact that quite of his RCI Midday news is
apparently sourced from FB links!
In search of a glimpse
into the possible rationale for the duo’s cynicism, I journeyed into their respective
FB pages. I found pages for both individuals but none for their enterprises:
none for Talk, The St. Lucia Star or Newspin! I wondered why!
Browsing their FB pages, I found none of them dared to
publish any “constructive” or “controversial” critique, reflective of the “journalistic
personalities” - something I attribute to their apparent cynicism, ranked hypocrisy
and pure intellectual cowardice. It's is easy to pontificate from the “ivory
towers” of talk shows where the hosts are “judge, jury and executioner” and “monarch
of all they survey”; however, it's an entire different matter to face the music
in the real world of FB where intellectual exchanges know no bounds.
Let’s be clear, the ex-Mr. Universe and his self-styled
disciples (who conveniently play excerpts from President Kennedy’s arguably greatest
speech extolling the value of controversy in journalism) are entitled to their
views; but one would hardly expect such an irrational view from a world class
publisher and his entourage of loyal supporters.
I’m not a blind follower of FB; but I applaud the platform
it has given the world to share ideas, feelings, etc, rendering everyone equal
in world of the social media; however, being equal does not translate to being
identical. Hence, while everyone is equal on Facebook, no two subscribers are
identical. Different individuals have different foci.
I proved Mr. Universe’s dumbfounding assertion to be
out of orbit with reality plus I believe there is truth to Mr Zuckerberg’s
claim that FB is a credible and reliable platform!
Here are some examples!
I was able through FB to access the Director of
Statistics for some statistical information which I required for a project.
Early this week, I had reason to interface with an
academic colleague (Virus Clarke from Jamaica) and our professor (Kola Soyibo)
thanks to FB.
I’m able through FB to maintain regular contact with my
former students like Pro Gideon Simon, Dr Rand Jean who have made a name for
themselves in academia. In fact, it was
as recently as three weeks ago we had an open and frank exchange on the latest
developments on evolution and creation in the context of the theory of
relativity.
Indeed, many of us on our FB pages, continue to share
links, tag or expound on the latest developments on our fields of endeavour. In that regard, we have shared links to phenomena
like the discovery of gravitational waves, climate change, statistical information
and economic theory among other things!
Admittedly, not everyone has interest in those
academic or professional issues. There’s also a preponderance of FB pages that
provides loads and loads of news, views and information. There is also a
proliferation of lighter stuff little or no substance.
The Voice has
its FB page. St. Lucia News Online always has breaking news on FB. HTS has a
popular and useful FB page which we provide up-to-date news about St. Lucia. The
US Embassy has a FB page which we use to research about developments from the
States Department . . .
And there are hundreds of thousands of organisations that use FB to advertise their services.
So, what is Rick saying. I’m lost.
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