What the F, Mayor?

By Robert Lalah

In the latest episode of politicians flirting with stupidity, Mayor of Kingston Angela Brown Burke threw a very public hissy fit on Twitter, claiming bias on the part of local media because two competing television stations were brazen enough to have guests who were from the parliamentary opposition. In the now-infamous tweet, the goodly mayor appeared incensed:

"What the F. All angles has Holness, Direct has Audley both discussing the IMF and Jamaica's economic future. How biased can media be?"

The mayor is, of course, free to express her own opinions, but as someone whose job ultimately depends on her having a favourable public image, you'd think she would be a bit more thoughtful with her comments. And in the event she does decide to go rogue, which may well be required on some occasions, she should at least do it right.

People tend to be too quick to cry foul these days, I think. Everyone's offended by something. If it's not what you said, it's how you said it, or what you were wearing when you said it, or the car you drove home after you said it. The 21st century, with all its promise and advancements in many areas of life, has been tough so far on freedom of expression.

You can say what you want, as long as it doesn't contradict popular sentiment and taste. That's why, when word of Twittergate first started spreading, I figured it was just another molehill posing as a mountain. Let the mayor say what she wants, I thought. But later, when I actually saw the tweet, I was left feeling a little disappointed. The sheer silliness of the comment made it almost impossible to defend. This was not going to be her grand 'stand-up-for-freedom-of-expression' moment. Not at all.

We need not waste space here dissecting the tweet or trying to make sense of it, since even Brown Burke herself must by now realise how inane it was. Suffice it to say that if facilitating the opposition party's comments on issues of national importance is biased, I think we'd all agree that the media should strive to be as biased as possible. How else would the democracy function?

Whither colourful clarts?

But there were other things about the tweet that were upsetting. The part that ticked off many was the 'What the F' zinger. Now think about that for a second. Never mind the fact that she omitted the question mark, which is irritating in its own right, but it's not the most 'Jamaican' of expressions, is it? So many of us these days sound like Americans, that it's getting harder to tell our accents apart.

Exchange a few words with the average local teenager and you'll likely get doused with buckets of 'I'm likes', 'OMGs' and 'yeah, dogs'. Now Kingston's very own mayor goes and drops a line like 'what the F'. Even in its more explicit, unabridged form, that's too North American for me.

Remember, Mayor, you represent Kingston, a city with a proud history of colourful clarts in many variations. If you're that fired up over night-time television offerings, kindly choose a word or phrase from the abundant supply we have here. There's no need to import curse words when local stalwarts of swearing, like Peter Tosh and Shabba Ranks, fought long and hard to establish our own unique catalogue. Curse Jamaican, build Jamaica, you might say.

Another big surprise that came out of this affair is the fact that it took two television programmes to get the mayor this worked up. You'd think that running a city as complex and important as Kingston would have coerced some curse words from her a long time ago. Alas, the many filthy streets, flouted laws, and social issues to contend with in Kingston seem not to have been as emotive as what goes on on television at night.

Now that, to me, is shocking. What the F, Mayor? What the F, indeed.

Robert Lalah is features editor and author of 'Roving with Lalah' published every Tuesday. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and robert.lalah@gleanerjm.com.