Media snubbing Gov't's success - Part 1

Delano Seiveright, Contributor

The respected London-based weekly The Economist, on September 9 carried a refreshing story on two of the Jamaican Government's major successes: its coordinated and sustained assault on crime and violence, and the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX) programme.

It comes as no surprise that Jamaica's news media have not placed more emphasis on the huge successes in the economy and on the crime and violence front. As is also the case in Britain and the United States of America, too much of the 'news' is focused on the sensational and usually negative events. It may very well be that human beings today are more interested in negative and sensational headlines rather than more positive stories.

In a relatively competitive local news-media landscape, news editors and their owners alike must be hard-pressed to put out an interesting and sellable product day after day. This, however, cannot be used as an excuse for the limited coverage of the major and very positive happenings in the economy, and on the crime and violence front. While segments of the local news continue to give weight to sensational stories such as the Manatt, Phelps & Phillips saga, many local and international observers and institutions continue to note the huge successes happening in Jamaica.

Jamaica debt exchange

The JDX is, arguably, the world's most successful debt-management initiative. The J$700-billion initiative saw the voluntary exchange of existing bonds, excluding treasury bills issued by the Government in the local market for new bonds of the same principal value, but which have lower interest costs and longer maturities. The Government inherited a country drowning in public debt of which, over the past 10 years, the cost of servicing exceeded total revenues and grants by an average of 112 per cent per annum. Some sort of debt operation was an absolute necessity in a flat-lined economic environment characterised by 'permanently' high interest rates, high levels of unproductivity, and little or no growth.

It certainly would have been more difficult to achieve without the substantive push of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral institutions, which, eventually, paved the way for a crucial standby arrangement with the fund. What is still remarkable is the fact that the debt exchange was achieved without the much anticipated, at the time, capital flight or a run on the dollar. Even more remarkable is the 99.2 per cent participation rate which, to this day, remains the highest on record worldwide.

Despite its tremendous success, the JDX rarely gets rave reviews in Jamaica. The government-run Jamaica Information Service reported on June 7, the European Union's ambassador to Jamaica, Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni giving positive reviews of the Jamaica Debt Exchange at a social-project signing in Kingston. The ambassador pointed out that the debt exchange "has given (Jamaica) very important breathing space ... We can see it from the macroeconomic figures that are coming in. Jamaica is doing well; it is doing better than a number of countries in the region and worldwide. Jamaica is doing better than some of the European Union countries, and it is, because it is, at long last, tackling this tremendous burden of debt."

Busy reporters

Of course, the news media in June 2010 were understandably busy reporting heavily on post-Christopher 'Dudus' Coke-extradition events and were certainly not in the mood to speak on any local economic successes at that or at anytime.

Roughly a month earlier, on April 28, The London Times ran a most uplifting piece pointing to the JDX as a model that could inform Greece's options for a way out of its economic crisis. The London Times noted that "the conventional wisdom, when a restructuring of Greek debt is discussed, is that such a move would be disorderly in the extreme. But that may not necessarily be the case, to judge from recent events in Jamaica, the one example of a sovereign default so far, this year." Again, there wasn't substantial coverage of this glowing story in the local news media. At this time, Manatt and pre-Dudus extradition developments dominated.

What is generally covered are the negative spins on each programme. The negative reactions from some interests regarding the sale of Air Jamaica, and gripes from the Opposition and a handful of commentators and 'analysts' about the difficult economic realities are given far too much play in the news media.

There seems to be no interest whatsoever by some of these 'commentators' and 'analysts' to highlight the following:

Six-month benchmark treasury bill rates are hovering at eight per cent - the lowest in 32 years.

The re-engagement of the multilaterals, namely, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank, having seen Jamaica accessing funds at interest rates ranging from 0.63 per cent to just fewer than five per cent - the lowest in decades.

The successes of the JDX.

The JA$10 billion in annual savings that will occur with the sale of Air Jamaica.

The Government's courage to get out there and ramp up tax compliance, which has resulted in increased tax revenues over the past two years.

The passing of the last two IMF tests so far.

There was widespread reporting of possible failure in the local news media. However, on June 18, JP Morgan, one of the world's leading financial services firms, quoted the IMF as saying the following: "Jamaica has performed very well under the programme, and has met all quantitative performance targets and structural benchmarks for end-March", and "the prospects for meeting end-June targets and benchmarks appear favourable" .

Again, there was not much news in the local media about this. Neither was there any positive news coming from those regular 'commentators' and 'analysts'.

What is even more fascinating is the unwillingness of some of these 'commentators' and 'analysts' to highlight just how broad and far-reaching the economic programme is, and that it serves as a template to placing the country firmly on track for growth and development. The IMF agreement, and the efforts of the Government, have sought to ensure that Jamaica stays committed to strong fiscal consolidation, tight budgeting, divestment, fiscal responsibility laws, better financial regulation, improved treasury management, reduced corruption, and a macroeconomic environment characterised by lower interest rates that ultimately reduce fiscal deficits and frees up capital for private-sector investments.

Clearly, it is now crucial that news editors accept the shortcomings in their reporting and seek to bring about a better balance. Additionally, the hypocrisy of the 'commentators' and 'financial analysts' must be addressed quickly. At the very least, print and electronic news editors should put out a brief profile of each 'commentator' and 'financial analyst', outlining critical aspects of their history and current life whenever they give commentary. For example, John Brown is a former adviser to the former minister of finance, Jill Scott. He is also a former executive member of the Communist Association of Jamaica. This is increasingly becoming the norm in American and British media.

Delano Seiveright is president of Generation 2000 (G2K), the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party.