the tweet that started it all
the flag at the Embassy at Hope Road
I am in agreement with the stance taken:
They commented
Attorney General Mrs Marlene Malahoo Forte has unnecessarily ignited a firestorm by her ill-considered tweet Monday evening which accused the United States Embassy of disrespecting the laws of Jamaica by flying, at half-mast, the rainbow flag of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and Transgender) community.
The embassy took the action as a mark of respect for the 102 people killed or injured in the horrific shooting incident at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which was carried out in the early hours of Sunday morning by a lone gunman who was in turn shot dead by the police.
At a time when the global community is focused on unity in the overarching trans-national fight against terrorism, it is regrettable that a tweet by the attorney general should have caused this negative fall out. Her brief words could give rise to the false interpretation of being counter to the correct position of the Jamaican Government, so eloquently expressed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness in offering condolence to the US Government, family and friends of the victims of this unspeakable terrorist act.
Not surprisingly, the rapid-fire social media utilised by her to send the tweet has already relayed it globally and, as could be expected, it has been latched on to by the international media. More importantly, the US Embassy has taken note and, we are sure, would have onpassed it to the State Department.
We can only hope that the tweet does not impact the normal cordial and productive relations with our long-standing and highly valued partner, the United States.
We note that Mrs Malahoo Forte had pointed out in that unfortunate tweet that she was expressing her personal view, no doubt mindful of the need to minimise any possible negative interpretations being attributed to the Government. But that doesn’t let her off the hook.
It is clear that she was unaware that senior public officials who hold important portfolios and ministers of government ought not to express their views publicly, especially on sensitive matters, even under the cover of the view being personal.
It is too fraught with danger because it has implications well beyond the official and is, we suggest, a course of action that is a veritable banana peel, as the attorney general must by now have recognised. It is our view that the fragile cover of an utterance being personal is to be avoided at all cost. It invariably does more harm than good, as has now happened.
Of course, Jamaica enjoys and promotes freedom of expression. But those who speak in the name of the people must be careful to avoid confusion in the minds of their audience. It is a sacrifice they make for holding public office, and they can’t eat their cake and have it too.
The risk of untold, unintended negative repercussion of ill-conceived utterances can lead to unnecessary expenditure of time, energy and resources pursuing damage control which could have been avoided with more care and attention.
The prime minister must let Mrs Malahoo Forte know, in no uncertain terms, if he has not yet done so, that it must not happen again. It is a first offence and she is inexperienced in office, but she must be expected to take a more cerebral approach to such sensitive matters.
The attorney general should not need us to warn her of the dangers of unthinking utilisation of the informal social media which has no geographical or national boundaries.
ENDS
No comments:
Post a Comment