On this gorgeous Sunday morning, there is much to be thankful for, especially in the Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) imbroglio.

One of them is that Ken Ali is an interim CEO. Easy matter to fix. Twenty four hours and it could be over. Lucky for him, his old position at the PM's office remains vacant.

By his own admission of badly timed management, and with amazing speed, he managed to throw the State enterprise and the Government into a tailspin in his very first week on the job. If this hasn't convinced the Prime Minister about his lack of fitness for the job to which she has personally appointed him, she should consult the management guru in her Cabinet, Dr Suruj Rambachan.

He knows enough to insist on respect for process. A line minister usurping the board's authority and hand-picking the CEO of a State enterprise is bad enough. Doing so in the case of media and information enterprises, CNMG and the Government Information Services Ltd (GISL), moves the crime several notches higher—from bungling interference to sinister censorship. On their own, no number of declarations of support for press freedom can salvage this situation.

The other thing to be celebrated today is the fact that, at last, CNMG, the Caribbean's most expensive, state-of-the art broadcast entity, owned by the people of Trinidad and Tobago, is on the front burner of the national agenda.

As it now stands, CNMG provides no compelling reason for continued taxpayer support. It is financially unviable, has little or no strategic value to national development goals, drains foreign exchange in supporting foreign content, and occupies last place in the market among commercial national stations.

But all of this could be transformed with a change of mandate. If we are serious about economic diversification, and if we truly believe the Creative Sector has the potential to become a new pole of growth, then the currently moribund CNMG could become a critical national resource for the production and distribution of creative content—domestically, regionally and internationally.

What we need now is a policy that integrates CNMG, independent producers, the Entertainment Company of T&T, the Film Company of T&T, the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), the University of the West Indies (UWI) and other resources within a supportive policy framework. This is where the debate now needs to go.

The Government does not need CNMG for keeping the citizenry informed about its work. It has GISL and the NCC channel, as well as new studio facilities for the PM, for which money has already been allocated in the 2011 budget. It must limit itself to these facilities and remove CNMG from the equation.

Ultimately, the population must assume responsibility for any decision on the future of CNMG. It is our own inertia that has allowed successive governments to keep throwing good taxpayers' money after bad at CNMG, and when it suits its purpose, to use it to subvert press freedom and freedom of expression—from Eric Williams until now. Fazeer Mohammed is only the latest in a long line of professionals to be scalped at 11B Maraval Road.

As we discuss the future of CNMG, we should remain alert to imminent dangers lurking outside the door that has now been cracked open.

• Impending 're-alignments' at cnmg: What, for example, will it take to convert a lie into a truth? In the case of CNMG, it might take the dismissal of many more to make re-alignment and cost-cutting into a truth. Its non-unionised, contract staff should be urgently seeking advice and representation.

• Government advertising: The Government is the single, largest advertiser. In today's downmarket, the most efficient way to skin media cats is through advertising expenditure. Industry interests, including the T&T Publishers and Broadcasters Association and the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT), need to invest resources in tracking the structure of Government advertising budgets. The experience of the Stabroek News and the Jagdeo government in Guyana would be instructive.

• Religious tension: The CNMG issue has brought to the fore the potent issue of religious perspectives on the role of women in Caribbean society—Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Orisha and others. This is the moment for UWI's Gender Studies department and gender and religion-based groups to seize the initiative for constructive discussion in the interest of building a more enlightened multi-ethnic society.

• Professional divisiveness: There is no doubt the media, as an institution, has its flanks exposed. Fortunately, even in the face of declining standards and credibility, the population remains tenacious in protecting the principle of press freedom. More than ever, our journalists need to honour their responsibility to serve the public's right to know with the highest possible standards.

After last week's baptism, the Prime Minister would do well to regroup, renounce, repent and come again. It is not too late for her Government to be saved from an innocent slide into a war with the media and all that is likely to follow. She learned a lot from Basdeo Panday; surely, she has learned about this, too.