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THE EDITOR: Politicians must remove their sunglasses during interviews with the news media as eye contact is essential for establishing trust, not only with journalists, but with the population.
The trend of politicians giving interviews while wearing sunglasses, usually outside of the Parliament building, has long existed. Patrick Manning donned dark-brown Ray-Bans on the odd occasion, and enigmatic figures such as Dr Eric Williams and former commissioner of police Randolph Burroughs often wore dark sunglasses.
The practice appears to be widely adopted by TT parliamentarians. It is now not uncommon to see some MPs giving interviews wearing very dark sunglasses while indoors or after sunset. However, politicians outside of TT rarely hide behind dark-tinted sunglasses while speaking to the media.
The old adage that “the eyes are the windows to the soul” points to the important role eye contact plays with body language. Psychologist Albert Mehrabian believes body language makes up 97 per cent of all human communication and 55 per cent of the messages we send to others comes from our non-verbal cues such as eye contact, facial expression, gestures and body posture.
Dark lenses create a barrier between politicians and the public they serve. While some politicians look shady even when they are not wearing shades, it is clear that dark sunglasses can conceal more than the wearer's eyes. While people wear sunglasses for a range of reasons – to appear fashionable, to protect their eyes from the sun, or to signify social status with designer brands – it may also be that the wearer is trying to shield their eyes from public scrutiny.
Would the PM’s denial of the presence of US marines in Tobago be as convincing if the population and the news media were able to see her eyes? Perhaps not. During times of growing public distrust and anxiety, politicians would do well to leave their designer sunglasses in their designer handbags and level with the people.
ELIOT EVANS
via e-mail
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