Geof Brown

It is hard to believe that two weeks after condemning Cable and Wireless for complacency and lack of concern for customer satisfaction, this column is today praising the company. But one can do no less after reflections on the devastating effects of Hurricane Ivan.

Together with what I will advisedly and deliberately call "sane radio", Cable and Wireless did itself proud in carrying out a magnificent job during and after the destructive "Ivan the Terrible". Radio, almost all radio in this country, brought sanity to millions, yes, millions of Jamaicans here and in the Diaspora. From as far away as Korea and New Zealand, I heard Jamaicans calling our local radio stations to keep abreast of what was happening to their loved land and their beloved ones during the long night of Ivan.

Not all radio brought sanity and comfort, as we might well expect. There are always discordant voices, salivating to add gloom to doom. More of that later. But it was radio, not television, not print, which saved the day during the hours of fear and dread. Time and again I heard lonely persons thanking the radio champions for company and information to give them perspective on the nature of the devastation.

Time and again I heard persons being assisted to make both personal and general contact with relatives and areas out of communication with the callers. And it was Cable and Wireless telephone facilities which stood up unbelievably well to enable the connections.

If ever there was synergy working for the benefit of the nation, it was the synergy of Cable and Wireless combined with sane radio.

Beginning with the solid Barbara Gloudon before the worst set in, I found myself grateful for sane radio as that veteran of the airwaves clued us all in, braving on-site scenarios to give us news and commentary feedback, away from the comfort of the studio. Then, as the evening progressed into night, with Ivan lingering menacingly and lengthening the torture, Simon Crosskill and his team took us into the heart of things on RJR, even as he was trapped by fallen trees in the St Andrew hills. Talk about in-your-face broadcasting!

For hours into the night, the redoubtable Cliff Hughes, well partnered by Emily Crooks, used the power of Power 106 to keep not only the nation in the know, but the wide, wide world glued to the Internet. The globe became indeed the village predicted by MacLuhan, and the Hughes-Crooks team regaled the village audience with news and dialogue.

Not to be outdone, Michael Price, recently returned from his advanced studies in the UK, was a marathon champion with his team throughout the night on Hot 102. They focused on linking Jamaicans at home who were desperate for mutual contact. The humour and patience which Price and his team brought to many an anxious and depressed listener, set a model for broadcasting under stress.

After all this exemplary radio showmanship, it was disappointing on the day following the long night to tune in to Power 106 and hear Mutty Perkins with the same-old-same-old refrain of overworked axioms and intimations of doom. I hope I am not doing him an injustice, as I did not linger to hear him too long, hoping to get a refreshing perspective from other less single-track commentators.

But I do commend him for his attempt to be fair when veteran writer Beth Aub called his programme. The dear lady amazed me. Here she was claiming that the news of the effects of Ivan's destruction was being made a "political football" by persons playing down the truth of the extensive damage. Talk about paranoia!

Well, good old Mutty, to give him his due, tried to have the lady see that any playing down of the damage was only in relative terms, based on the horror that a direct hit would have caused. This did not satisfy Aub, bent on seeing mischief where none existed. She went on to assert with great firmness, that the Government would be receiving not one iota of foreign assistance. Perkins, obviously not wishing to decry this silly prediction, tried to say that some help might be forthcoming (wisely for him, who is certainly no friend of the Government).

But the lady insisted on her prediction. How much crow is she eating now, too boxed in by prejudice and bias to await the facts before shooting off the mouth.

Thankfully, there has been very little of similar narrow-mindedness in the reactions of the vast majority of Jamaicans. As with Hurricane Gilbert, we have seen more of unity and concern for mutual welfare among Jamaicans of all classes and groups, than petty sniping and uninformed comment. Sane radio and the efficient performance of Cable and Wireless left little room for displays of ignorance clouded by blind bias. Hats off to those synergistic champions who saved the day.

Mailbox

I am sorry space does not allow me to deal publicly with the correspondence concerning last week's article on the "Bush-Kerry showdown". I will respond privately to worthwhile comments.

geofbrown@cwjamaica.com

Executive Class

Gardens with Gravel

Death to the Mullet!