Alden McLaughlin, Cayman Islands Minister of Education

Alden McLaughlin, Minister of Education, told the sitting that Net News publisher, Desmond Seales, and Caribbean Net News managing editor, Barry Randall, were part of a reckless group spreading doom and gloom.

The two ministers, McLaughlin and Arden McLean, Minister of Communications, Works and Infrastructure, made a scathing attack on opponents of the Cayman Islands’ immigration term limits policy.

McLaughlin slammed the newspaper for spreading “doom and gloom” about the immigration term-limit law and labelled the paper as “reckless” for making such “pronouncements.”

The Minister was making his contribution to the legislative debate in the House on 20 December 2006 and spoke at length about what he described as consistent “negativity” in the newspaper’s editorials, headlines and commentaries.

He said, “The reality of the Cayman situation is a million miles away from what is being projected” in the newspaper.

He said that based on the opinions expressed by the writers in the paper, “We wonder why they even bother to live here.”

He added, “The tone of much that is written is characterised by such disrespect for the Caymanian people.”

“They (members of the public) don’t buy the paper anymore because it is just filled with negativity.”

On the premise that the “editor of Net News writes headlines to sell newspapers,” Mr McLaughlin followed up by saying that it seemed that “all that is important (to the newspaper) is money”.

He added, “I always thought journalism was an honourable profession …a member of the third estate… (but) Net News is a tabloid, not a newspaper.”

Arden McLean, Cayman Islands Minister of Communications, Works and Infrastructure

McLean accused the editor of publishing wrong information and, while underscoring his belief in freedom of the press, said, “It is unfortunate that the editor has taken that position but his information should be accurate. It is the newspaper that is causing division between Caymanians and expatriates.”

He also said, “Net News should be the last to ridicule this country because, in places like Trinidad (where Mr Desmond Seales was born) he would be run out of business a long time ago.

“The issue is not about being xenophobes as Desmond Seales and Barry Randall claim,” he added.

“It is about what we need to do to have control over the growth of the permanent population or else political control of Cayman will one day rest in another demographic if the term-limit policy were not instituted.”

Making reference to Messrs Seales and Randall, McLaughlin said, “They have mounted a campaign for the last year to undermine the Government.”

Desmond Seales, Publisher and Editor in Chief of Cayman Net News

In responding to the comments made by the ministers, Desmond Seales, publisher and editor in chief of Cayman Net News, said, “We will be addressing these issues editorially in the near future, without of course enjoying the immunity of speaking in the Legislative Assembly, the last refuge of floundering and cowardly politicians.

“In the meantime, I make no apologies for bringing the good, bad and the ugly aspects of the Cayman Islands to the world, starting with the venerable Nor’wester magazine more than 30 years ago, and continuing through the ravages of Hurricane Ivan, when all other media had collapsed, including government information services.

“Informing the world during and in the immediate aftermath of Ivan was only accomplished through the diligence of my colleague, Barry Randall, who, although out of the eye of the storm in Florida, nevertheless stayed awake for days on end, making sure that the latest information was made available to the world online.

“Although I was not born in the Cayman Islands – and the mere fact that this was mentioned by the ministers in question is yet another indication of their racist proclivities – I have lived here for a period that surpasses a generation, and I will not stand idly by when I see ignorance and incompetence damaging the economy and society of these Islands.”

Barry Randall, managing editor of Caribbean Net News, a sister publication of Cayman Net News, said, “These two individuals seem to have lost their grip on reality.  To say that I have ‘mounted a campaign to undermine the government’ is not only defamatory – and the minister only dares say so within the protection of parliamentary immunity -- but also demonstrates a simply astounding degree of paranoia on the part of the minister concerned, and a complete ignorance of my role in relation to Cayman Net News.

“The government’s concept of ‘freedom of the press’ is that the press is free to publish what it likes, as long as it supports official policy – anything else is viewed as ‘undermining’ the government.”