Wilberne Persaud, Financial Gleaner Columnist

Persaud

I get a comment or query that has become common in its general focus and frequent in occurrence. So much so I am persuaded I should clarify the issue.

Readers tell me they feel I have much more to say on the subject in any particular column. I am, indeed, flattered by the sentiment and can merely hope it really is not meant to be. Such a sentiment emerged from last week's discussion of financial regulation and bailout.

Among the questions were: Why did I not name the "highly talented and immensely experienced former financial regulators and financial journalists" in the United States of whom I spoke? Why did I not use my 'investigative journalism' skills to say more abou investment schemes?

Column 'real estate'

Let's tackle the easy, uncomplicated issue first. This column's major constraint is Financial Gleaner 'real estate'. The paper's column inch is scarce and expensive. My editor restricts me generally, to 750 words. In Jamaica it is not uncommon elsewhere to find columns of more than 3,000 words. Yet, for the most highly regarded newspapers of the world, this latitude tends to be reserved for Sunday magazines and special topics. It is neither allowed as an everyday occurrence nor generally associated with financial page writing. Apart from expensive column inch real estate, there is the other matter, not unimportant in itself: readers' time too, is valuable, scarce and expensive. 'Keep it short' is a great rule.

Concerning method and objective I should say that when my writing for the Financial Gleaner was first discussed, one of the problems I foresaw was wanting to deal with subjects not solely or entirely 'financial' or 'business' in nature. They may, indeed, have at their core some element of business or finance, but the focus could lead elsewhere. The solution was, of course, to do 'commentary' in the financial pages.

What of objective? What's the purpose of writing this column? I certainly could not borrow from The Mighty Sparrow's popular calypso, Number 69, to suggest: "I am here to entertain and to please you is my desire." Though I am not averse to using humour, laughing at myself and letting some fun flow into the discourse, this segment of your newspaper is not too keen on that style. So, the plan is to be informative for the general reader and propose ideas on subjects that lead to deeper thinking and stimulus to informed conversation.

Stimulating discussion

So for instance last week, I said "immensely experienced former financial regulators and financial journalists try, publicly, to persuade government and free market capitalists that players in financial markets need more, not less regulation." I added the word 'publicly' to that sentence in an effort to stimulate thought and discussion.

In money and financial matters, the old saying that 'not everything good fi know, good fi talk' is a powerful rule. Money and financial markets are sensitive. My mother would say 'finicky'. Here I must admit to only recently realising this is a real word in the English language.

The objective in adding 'publicly' is to stress this point and encourage the thought: If former financial regulators are talking publicly about the issue, what are they doing privately? Indeed, what are current regulators saying behind closed doors?

A second, more difficult objective has been to get readers to realise that supporting a policy is not, on the one hand, to choose a politician or political party nor is being critical of a policy equal to denunciation of a politician or his party. This one is difficult in Jamaica since politicians - incredible, given their chosen profession - seem to be rather thin-skinned. One good thing though is that they are a lot better than their supporters who consistently 'cuss' the messenger, while missing or ignoring the message. I am acutely aware of this from some [happily very few] reader comments.

Journalism skills

Finally, the question of investigative journalism. One reader complimented me on my skills in investigative journalism. Misplaced and unwarranted, I immediately replied. I have indeed on occasion taught in journalism schools, supervised budding journalists, but neither took a course in journalism nor endured the real world beat of a reporter that entitles one to be called journalist. I did agree though, that it is a form of journalism, sadly underrepresented in Jamaica. The reasons for this, however, need space of Sunday magazine encounter with 3,000 plus words.

wilbe65@yahoo.com