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And, finishing up on politics, we’ve been digging into our archives again - and we’ve come up with some interesting contrasts in the PM’s perspective on the press.  10 years ago, he loved us, and nowadays, he’s taking shots at the press, regularly.  As Jules Vasquez reports, it’s a familiar trajectory:

Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister (February 8, 2008)
“By resolving never to run from issues never to run from the press, never to blame the press but to man up if in fact there are things that go wrong."

But, 10 years and a month later, he was doing just that, blaming the press:

Hon. Dean Barrow (March 8, 2018)
"When you consider the relentless assault in particular of the media they have bombarded us, they have lambasted us without cease, without let to a cease. "

Jules Vasquez
"You all appear certainly from the outside, you might want to say through the lens of a jaundice media, I believe a media you've praised 10 years ago for getting you elected"

Hon. Dean Barrow
"My how things have changed."

Indeed they have:

Hon. Dean Barrow (February 11, 2008)
"The media, we know will continue to shine the light on government and in fact we welcome and appreciate that and perhaps it gives me a chance to say one other thing, I will never ever run from the press. I will never ever avoid the press. I will always be willing to talk to the press because I consider that my duty."

But in 10 years it went from a duty to a burden, and more than once the PM left the press hanging at the airport - a press - weariness reflected in this statement:

Hon. Dean Barrow (March 8, 2018)
My God man, my God, cynicism can only get you so far. Nobody is asking the media to join in any sing along, in any kind of chorus, but for goodness sake at least recognize that we are all in this together and don't appear to be so happy, to be so ecstatic at what you seem to consider to be the likelihood that our efforts will fail. How does that help you?"
16:26 how does that help you

Of course, the trajectory is all-too-familiar to the press - and evokes Mr. Barrow's least favourite comparison:

Rt. Hon. Said Musa (February 8, 2008)
“Well in this election campaign like no other, the media played a very big part and yes, the media has been very extremely negative towards the PUP and people are watching television now more than ever, they are listening to their radios so the media plays a very big part, undoubtedly. And clearly there have been things that have happened which compounded by the media have created a different image of the PUP.”

Our records show that between March 18 and May 17 of this year, The Prime Minister had zero encounters with the press.