'No Bias Against T&T Journalists'

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) on Monday dismissed complaints of bias against journalists in Trinidad & Tobago, insisting that media houses who followed the proper accreditation procedures were treated fairly.

Responding to complaints in some quarters that British journalists were given prime press box seats at the expense of locals, WICB media liaison Imran Khan fired back, making it clear that "all of the major media houses in Trinidad and Tobago have been adequately accommodated, even in the very front row of the media centre."

Khan, the Guyanese writer who has himself been critical of the way journalists are treated around the Caribbean, issued a statement explaining that seating priority is given to the major media houses from the countries of the two competing teams -- West Indies (including Trinidad and Tobago) and England -- as well as regional and international news agencies.

"The rest of the seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, which puts local media personnel at a distinct advantage since they can secure seats long before the international media even arrive."

Khan said he made recommendations to local journalists to select their seats prior to the start of the Test match but his suggestions were ignored.

"The WICB has also been presented with no evidence of persons submitting completed accreditation documentation through the correct channels within the deadline, who did not have their accreditation processed prior to the start of the second Test."

"In fact, the accreditation agency facilitated late applications for an entire week past the deadline up until March 8 when the WICB?s Media Liaison took over and continued to assist late applicants on the spot within the space constraints," he added.

In this regard, Khan said some journalists in Trinidad and Tobago missed these deadlines and did not follow the prescribed application process, both of which were widely publicized.

"All journalists who had applied and were approved through the proper system received their passes and have been accommodated in the media centre."

On his personal blog, Khan said the complaints were coming from one "disgruntled and erratic local guy" and again explained the constraints about finding prime seats for everyone.

"Quite frankly many of them just seek media passes to watch cricket for free, then fret when they cannot get a prime seat in the media centre," Khan declared.

"Life's tough, the early bird catches the worm. This is a clear case of being, as we say in Guyana, 'wrong and strong'," he added.

In a subsequent article, Trinidad Newsday writer Andre Baptiste called on the WICB to dismiss Khan for what he perceived was an inability to adequately provide seating for local writers.

But, as Khan explained, "On a case-by-case basis I ensured that each media house was represented, but due to severely limited space could not do accreditation for the four and five people (inclusive of editors and non-working personnel) they had requested."