Black Immigrant Daily News
The Bridge 99 FM said it is concerned about the verbal attack on former Prime Minister and talk show host Bruce Golding over comments he made regarding the government’s role in the SSL scandal.
Golding in a television newscast, which was widely circulated on social, criticized the government for lack of management of the financial sector, which led to monies going missing from SSL including two billion dollars of Olympian Usain Bolt’s.
The news clip came from an episode of ‘Jamaica Live’, which Golding hosts on the station.
Shortly after, Everald Warmington, a parliamentarian and Golding’s Jamaica Labour Party colleague, went on a tirade blasting Golding for criticizing the government of which he is a minister without portfolio.
Bridge 99 FM in a release said it views with great concern the verbal attack levelled against the former prime minister.
“We at The Bridge are in full support of Mr Golding in the airing of his views with which we might not always find agreement. We believe that freedom of expression is an inalienable right of every citizen whether one is a talk show host, a former prime minister, a member of the public; or, a parliamentary representative,” The Bridge 99 FM said.
The station said is convinced that nothing in Golding’s comments on the programme could have been reasonably construed as an attack on any individual or organisation.
“Mr Golding abided by the regulations laid down by the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica and was quite civil and measured in his commentary. He did not berate or libel anyone,” the release said.
The radio station said the vitriolic attack against Mr Golding is therefore a cause for particular concern, especially at a time when our beloved country is experiencing a coarsening of our political discourse and a spiralling crime rate. Against this background, Bridge 99 FM said it is imperative that those who have been tapped to lead “exercise the utmost control in their utterances and the signals they send to the vulnerable members of our society”.
NewsAmericasNow.com
