On NPP issues: Shut up there!

Dealing with matters related to the internal matters of political parties has never been easy for newspapers. It is even more challenging for newspapers perceived to be championing the cause of identifiable groups or even individuals.

Sometimes editors are openly accused of being directed as to what to do by some hidden hands. These being the figments of the imagination of some idle persons who are too lazy to do serious analysis of how some newspapers operate, DAILY GUIDE can only leave them to think as they like.

Indeed, ever since the issue of the chairmanship of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) erupted, we have been accused of seeking to run down some individuals within the political grouping – an accusation we find not only self-saving as those bandying these charges are glaringly drowning in the political waters of the country, but outright nonsense.

Shallow-minded as they are, these persons make it look like the journalists at the DAILY GUIDE must be spoon-fed to be able to seek and write stories of value and public interest.

Even before Hon Freddie Blay assumed the high office in the NPP, we had assumed the mastery of seeking stories from the leading political parties in the country, including the ruling one – the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

It is arrant nonsense therefore when the charge is made that our source of information about the party is the man aforementioned.

To assume that such a personality would sit the editorial staff and begin narrating restricted stories about the party which top hierarchy he belongs to is to display one’s imbecility.

We have reached where we are today by virtue of many factors, one of which is being a standard newspaper pure and simple.

In a competitive newspaper industry, it is the readers who determine the fate of these tangible news channels. In fact, they constitute the examination board that determines which channels should prosper and which should drown.

Out of modesty we would rather the print-runs of newspapers, which advertisers and vendors know, are kept to our chests. Our esteemed readers whom we continue to doff our hats for keeping us afloat even when others can barely keep their heads on the parapet have kept faith with us.

For us, therefore, it is not what frustrated political elements within the NPP and outside it think and spew out when it suits that determine how we do our work, but what we think in our professional minds are newsworthy and therefore fit to be written and printed.

We are in touch with our readers through diverse means. Sometimes they call us or even take the trouble to visit us in the office with their observations and suggestions which we have continued to take on board. That has also accounted immensely towards our ability to survive even when others are on the verge of drowning, but for the subtle support of organs of state. The manner in which this is done is a matter of finesse.

Had we run this newspaper the way idle minds think we do, erroneously of course, we would have long been out of circulation. Blimey! Let them shut up.