Media

The Trinidad Express Editor seems confused about what a profession is:

...In the English languageby definition a profession is any activity that is a paid occupation in which there is some form of formal training and some form of certification...

The control characters ('Â') come courtesy of a straightforward copy and paste, and I have made not bothered to fix 'languageby' - both of which demonstrate a poor process for putting things on the Internet. But before you become too distracted - a 'profession' is not as defined by the editorial maven of the Trinidad Express.

First, let's look at the root of the word 'profession'. From the etymology of the word 'profession':

...profession

c.1225, "vows taken upon entering a religious order," from O.Fr. profession, from L. professionem (nom. professio) "public declaration," from professus (see profess). Meaning "occupation one professes to be skilled in" is from 1541; meaning "body of persons engaged in some occupation" is from 1610; as a euphemism for "prostitution" (e.g. oldest profession) it is recorded from 1888. Professional (adj.) is first recorded 1747 with sense of "pertaining to a profession;" 1884 as opposite of amateur. As a noun, it is attested from 1811. Professionalism is from 1856.

... { Read more }

Ahoy there Trinidad Express - it appears that you''e taken some booty from a fellow blogger. That's called piracy in some parts o' the world. How can you use a picture from the Internet without at least attributin' the source? Who is the Captain o' the Trinidad Express, and why ha'en't they had someone walk the plank?

Perhaps because they're pirates? Aye, me parrot concurs.

Aye, so will the Copyright Office o' Trinidad and Tobago say somethin'? Perhaps the Media Association o' Trinidad and Tobago? Or will it be lawyers at 20 paces, then?

A pence for an old man o'de sea?

Aye, translation via Talk Like A Pirate Day Garrr...

I've waited for the last posting on this issue for the reason that I had no clue as to what was actually said. Nicholas Laughlin cleared this up for me in dropping a link to me on Facebook - the transcript of what was said can be found here.

After writing the Prime Minister an Open Letter on the topic, then following up, I'm almost done with this issue. To keep it nice and clean, we'll do this in point form: { Read more }

• While I am not a fan of commentary during newscasts, as is (was?) apparently available on 94.1 FM, I recognize that no broadcast of news is the same and that there is an option for people to change the channel or turn the radio off. More than likely, people who were listening to the broadcast enjoy that sort of commentary. Judging the people who provide the commentary during the newscast is also judging the people who enjoy the commentary. Thus, the suspension of the involved employees of 94.1 FM after a visit by the Prime Minister is a strong signal to listeners of 94.1 FM. You can't have it anymore. Squelched.
• The visit by the Prime Minister, as the 'spirit moved him', to a radio station is not appropriate for a person who holds an office that can (and apparently does) be used to intimidate the media.
• Management at 94.1 FM seem derelict in their responsibilities if the people suspended never received punitive measures before. If I were suspended by the management there and I had a clean record, you can bet your bottom CNG container that I would be seeking legal counsel. I've never owned a radio station before. That could be fun.

It's been a day since I wrote the Open Letter To Prime Minister Patrick Manning On The Media. During that time, I've watched and waited. It is my good fortune that the Prime Minister didn't show up at my doorstep and, subsequently, put me in the odd position of having to suspend myself. That would have been very awkward, but I'm not out of the woods yet. It could still happen.

For the record, and unsurprisingly, I've heard nothing directly from the Prime Minister. He's probably too busy driving around, blazing his way through traffic with his security detail, to get up on the World Wide Web and read up what's going on. And maybe that's part of his problem - a lack of connectivity, in a very figurative and perhaps more literal sense. But I get ahead of myself.

While the media - and I might be a part of the media (again, I get ahead of myself) - is busy saber rattling and finding itself a pawn in a larger game of politics, there's more to this than one sees upon a cursory glance.

Throwing Glass Houses At Stones { Read more }

Dear Sir,

I must admit that I have some concerns about your dealings with the media as outlined in the following articles:

• PM comes under fire (Trinidad and Tobago Guardian)
• It was not my idea: PM on suspension of 94.1 FM employees... (Trinidad Express)
• Manning: I am going to the courts next time
• ‘I have rights too’ (Trinidad Newsday)

As a member of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago, I am concerned for a few reasons. The first reason is simple, and something that you could rectify since the media I have found on the topic has been weighed and found wanting - something I find a regular issue. What, exactly, was the unprofessional behaviour that prompted your visit to the radio station? I understand that you have rights, but without such information there is an open question as to what the people were suspended for. Without that information, it appears to be censorship of the media - something which can only be alleged, but which tarnishes the reputation of your person, and more importantly, the Institution which your person is associated with. So I ask you, openly, to tell the nation why these people required your personal attention and presence.

It is a simple request. As it stands now, from people I have spoken with and also my own personal opinion, everything is quite dubious. You, who have held the Office of Prime Minister for so long, are aware of the effect of your presence - or should be. { Read more }

Perhaps because what I do tends to be as diverse as the DNA found on the planet, I don't really fit too awfully well on LinkedIn. If there is one thing I cannot do, it is to define what I do in a subset of some logic that a social networking site is programmed for. If you held my feet to the fire, I would admit to being tenuously linked somehow to the human race. Call me a chimpanzee. I'd probably think of that as a step up from homo sapien. In my formative years, a few people made the mistake of telling me that I could do whatever I wanted. And so I have. And that doesn't fit into any career rut other than 'Writer' or 'Consultant', both of which are accepted forms of addressing anyone from street bums or the real menaces, alleged experts.

I'm a beach bum. But I don't get to the beach as often as I would like.

All of that being said, I got a message today from someone who wanted to connect on LinkedIn. I have no idea who the person is, but the word 'Recruiter' leaps out at me. And, the mandatory part of the message: "Please don't say that you don't know me..."

BAM. I don't know you. There isn't even a picture of you around so I can see a picture of someone I don't know. Why do you want to know me? Because I might have a skillset that can be pawned off to a company looking for a pawn? No, no, that won't work. I did my time in the intellectual coal mines of corporate America. I'm not better, but I've been spoiled by 8 years of doing my own thing - and somehow managing to survive and get ahead. { Read more }

I came across a copy of the September 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review a few weeks ago, and have had it in the pickup for emergency reading. I'd never read the magazine before, probably because it is almost never seen in Trinidad, so despite the exotic price of TT $149.99 (US $23) I picked it up. It's always good to read what others are writing, and reading broadly is something I do as a reflex.

Within the magazine were some interesting articles, yet the one that bothered me the most was Don't Try This Offshore (HBR Case Study and Commentary). I couldn't quite put my finger on why - the article is well written, funny and a little controversial for American businesses. I re-read it, as well as the commentary, and re-read it again. I thought about it for days. Then it struck me: the premise of the article is what disturbed me.

To summarize the article in one paragraph, the article is about a fictional business in the United States - 'management-metaphor boutique Serendipity Associates (SA)' - is suddenly challenged by a competitor with a lower price tag, and that lower price tag is linked to outsourcing creative work. This comes as a surprise in the story to Serendipity Associates. And that, you see, is what I found disturbing. That people even thought in this way - that creativity is geocentric or, in the Internet era, business-centric. Is this the way that people really think? That an accident of geography or hiring creates the perfect creative business? I don't think like that, but the article's premise clearly demonstrates that at least some people think like that. { Read more }

When I read 'Should we tackle the digital divide or live with it?', I intended an immediate response - one that would agree with it to a large extent, yet I stayed my hand because of the depth of agreement which I have. And that depth comes from personal experience, as most agreement or disagreement does.

When Michael Grimes wrote:

...At three o’clock this morning I finished a frantic flurry of blog posts and Twitter tweets, and tried to sleep. Instead I began to panic.

When this happens – and it happens a lot these days – I feel that I’m on an irreversible and rapid ascent to the peak of my sanity, at which point I shall burn-out: not from work but from trying to keep abreast with technology (and currently with today’s hot potato of ’social media’). I feel like I’m constantly trying to catch-up, desparate not to fall behind. The world is changing incredibly fast; I already feel as though it’s running away and I no longer have the energy to keep up... { Read more }