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Dear Editor – I am not an avid reader of the of the Government newspaper Savali, but someone gave me a copy of the Savali dated Friday 3 April 2009 [issue No.12], and I must admit I could not help but ‘crack-up’ at one of the editorial titled TVNZ ‘news’ item more about Barbara Dreaver than Samoa [page 7], written by Tupuola Terry Tavita Leupolu, the editor of the Savali.
Excuse my dry sense of humour but I just want someone else to have the last laugh.
The first part of the editorial about the news item by Barbara Dreaver on TVNZ News recently asked the question “Did TVNZ pay Barbara Dreaver a whole week to dig up this rubbish?; and then the Savali editor called Barbara Dreaver’s news item as “sensational rubbish passed off as revealing news.”
This was the Savali editor’s way of saying that the whole story about drug and gun activities in Samoa was a figment of Barbara Dreaver’s imagination. All credit to Tupuola Terry Tavita Leupolu for coming out with guns blazing [sorry about the pun] and taking a stand on the issue.
But, I could not help but chuckled lightly when in the second part of the editorial, the Savali Editor declared “we don’t deny there is a drug trade in the country....We don’t deny there is a trade in illegal firearms in the country....It’s hardly news therefore that somebody is supposedly selling guns from the boot of his/her car.” Whoa! What’s this? Tupuola Terry Tavita Leupolu has just rubbished Barbara Dreaver’s news item; but what’s with the ‘we don’t deny” admission?
Why rubbish something and then embrace it? I said to myself, wait a minute, this editor must be a member of the Humpty Dumpty fraternity!
For me, it is bitterly hilarious that the elite editor of the government newspaper Savali contradicts himself on such an important issue. But I suppose it is not easy being the editor of a government newspaper; called upon to defend the good names of those who work for the government [in any capacity and field] and to defend the honour of our beloved Christian country Samoa, and then has to be seen to be on the side of the people of Samoa, especially the mass who have had enough of the government and their representatives mishandling such issues as drugs and illegal gun running involving government officials in very important government posts [for example the recent case involving Police personnel regarding ill
egal guns trafficking].
So, sitting on the fence makes sense for the Savali editor; it’s a Humpty Dumpty thing.
From experience, writers tend to contradict themselves when they do not know for sure the facts [usually guessing] of the issues or subject at hand.
That is, they do not fully research and find out for themselves the real facts but rely on what has already being written and researched by others, and then make assumptions without further testing those assumptions in the field.
In the academic world such writers are referred to as ‘armchair writers’; they do their research from the comfort of their swivel chair in their office. But don’t get me wrong, I am not alluding to anything here; but simply saying that this is a common pitfall in the cut-throat world of writing involving even men of honour.
And since we are in the spirit of Easter, the Bible does allude to those who sit on fences.
The Apostle John wrote to the members of the church in Laodicea with God’s message, saying “you are neither cold nor hot...because you are lukewarm...I am about to spit you out of my mouth” [Rev. 3:14 – 16].
Newspaper editorials within our local news prints lately have been of the highest calibre; writing very objectively without losing focus on the bigger picture, not afraid to state the obvious without being too arrogant, prepared to suggest solutions without being too biased, and not being afraid to offer criticism where it is due.
This is all possible when journalist put in the ‘hard-yakked’ in search for the truth. I take a bow to you all and the great writing that has been produced and, I believe, will continue to be the standard in the future.
Maybe the editorial by Tupuola Terry Tavita Leupolu reflects the lukewarm attitude of those in our government and in positions of power to the seriousness of the many and varied issues weighing down our Samoan people today; after all, the editorial was printed in the Savali.
By the way, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and we, the Samoan people, are sick of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.
We are no longer ignorant, but we continue to have a sense of humour to survive; and who knows, I might even lend a finger and push Humpty Dumpty off the wall in 2011...lol....May God continue to bless Samoa.
Armchair Reader
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