Protocol in Disarray – Fix It

THE BARRING OF media professionals from entering the House of Assembly to pay their final respects to Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne through their coverage has raised many concerns and questions about protocol at these occasions.

Sir Frederick was laid to rest on January 29, but, before his church service and interment, his body lay in state in the House of Assembly. An official release from the Office of the Prime Minister to media houses stated that from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., officials were invited to the viewing of the body and the general public from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

That release said nothing about attire, but the media were asked days before to not take photos of Sir Frederick’s body in his coffin.

The same thing applied during the official and state funerals of former Parliamentarians John Horne and Sir Vincent Beache respectively which was scrupulously adhered to.

But on Wednesday, when media personnel turned up at the House of Assembly, they were denied entry, with protocol officers attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying they were told that no photos were to be taken inside the Chamber.

Furthermore, a House of Assembly employee told two journalists that their polo shirts and long pants were inappropriate attire to enter the Chamber; but there were others others similarly attired in the Chamber.

Regular, ordinary citizens in their clean, simple every day attire wanting to pay their last respects to the country’s late Governor-General, were also denied this desire. All this, as tributes came from Vincentians from all walks of life, lauding Sir Frederick as a man who walked with kings and queens but never lost the common touch.

Clearly, the actions of the Protocol officers were at odds with the essence of the man Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne; a man whose simplicity was clearly demonstrated in the coffin in which he requested to be buried.

When asked, protocol officers refused to say who was in charge, and as a result, a state funeral had major gaps in the breadth of coverage it should have received. After all, Sir Frederick was a former head of state; he was accorded a state funeral and this therefore deserved the fullest coverage for the public record.

Something clearly went awry with the protocol.

It even appeared there may have been different instructions to some media houses and media practitioners. Two state entities not only broadcast/streamed the entire proceedings live from the House of Assembly Chambers; the body was clearly visible in the coffin, from which persons obtained screen shots and shared. Photographers, and reporters, including from this publication, having turned up with the clear instructions that they were not to take photos of the body, were not even accorded the opportunity to photograph Members of Parliament, or rank and file Vincentians solemnly file past the coffin to pay their last respects to a much loved son of the soil.

A call to the Office of the Prime Minister for clarification, after being referred there by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, revealed that no instruction was given to prevent reporters from doing their work in the House of Assembly, and the information would be communicated to the protocol personnel. But that information apparently did not filter down to the persons on the ground, and so when a SEARCHLIGHT journalist returned to the House of Assembly, she was again blocked from taking photographs – not of the body, but of persons paying respects – being told that this was the instruction of the family. Family members have since told SEARCHLIGHT that they never asked that journalists be blocked, or persons denied entry because of their attire. They however acknowledged that what they said is that they would prefer if no photographs of Sir Frederick in his coffin were taken and made public.

This is not the first incident of the shoddy treatment of media practitioners, and where the protocols seem to have been in tatters.

There is need to rectify this protocol disarray. A good start could begin with relevant persons familiarising themselves with the book “Protocol and You”, written by former Cabinet Secretary, Brendon Browne, and with persons recognizing the vital role and function of media practitioners in the coverage of events – including state funerals.