Lee Sing won't tolerate anti-Manning agenda

Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s visit to a radio station to complain about a broadcast appears to be turning into a verbal fistfight between two opposing political heavyweights - UNC Deputy Political Leader Wade Mark and Citadel Limited boss, Louis Lee Sing.

Earlier this week Lee Sing defended Manning’s actions and suggested that it presented an opportunity for self-examination in the media, which he said is guilty of acting irresponsibly at time. He even suggested some kind of control and urged the Trinidad and Tobago Publishes and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) to meet to discuss media standards.

And he slammed the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago for its take on the matter. MATT, whose president Marlan Hopkinson works for Lee Sing’s 95.5fm radio station, said the prime minister’s action amounted to an attack on the media.

Commenting on Lee Sing’s support for Manning, Mark said the media boss was clearly "singing for his supper" and no one should take him seriously.

"His intervention is designed to change the focus and shift the agenda away from the Prime Minister's unprofessional and dictatorial action of storming a media house to express dissatisfaction with a newscast," the Trinidad Express quoted Mark as saying.

He also pointed out that Manning intervened to grant Lee Sing a radio licence, a matter that raised the issue of discrimination. The Privy Council ruled that the licence was granted on political grounds and was discriminatory against the other legitimate applicants.

And Mark charged that Lee Sing has now applied for a licence to operate a television station.

Responding to the opposition senator Lee Sing said he doesn't need to "sing for his supper" and denied that he has applied to Government for a television licence. However he revealed that he is currently negotiating with WinTV to take control of that station.

Businessman Mohan Jaikaran, who is a strong opposition supporter, owns that station. Lee Sing is a high-profile member of the PNM. On the question of the radio license he said, "I cannot get involved in that. That is a decision taken by the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago. I don't sit in the Cabinet."

With reference to his comments on the Manning affair Lee Sing said he made them out of his concerns about media freedom. He said that freedom is always at risk when the media are not fair, balanced and objective, noting that such a situation leads to more controls and regulations.

He said the issue is not whether Manning was right or wrong, saying it had to do with the lack of professionalism. He dismissed charges that his statements have compromised MATT members who for work for him, saying there are free to do as they wish.

However he made it clear that he has a responsibility to protect his organization’s objectivity and balance.

“You cannot have an assignments editor because he is the president of MATT leading my newscast with MATT's rebuttals to the Prime Minister. That is not acceptable,” he declared adding that ultimately it is the publisher who determines how things go.

And he served notice that he is changing the way things are done at his media company.

“I don't get involved in the day to day affairs of news and current affairs. But effective now, because I know they are involved in a campaign, in an anti-Manning battle, I will be looking into the objectivity and balance of the news at Citadel. In fact I just came out of a meeting with the entire news department where I made my position on this matter abundantly clear", he said.

He said he takes a clinical approach to solving his problems. “Whenever I have a cancer, I cut out the cancer".