Lincguide caught up with Malcolm Channing, editor of the North Cyprus Free Press website. Malcolm gave us the lowdown on the new website devoted to news in Northern Cyprus.

How long have you been in Northern Cyprus?
I’ve been in Cyprus since 2002 but am still working in the UK for about 6 months a year. We bought land in Malatya which we were told had been exchanged for TC land in the south, received p2p and then obtained the title deeds. On completion of our villa we discovered that we had no access, our walls were on some of our neighbour’s land and our water pipe had been installed over another neighbour’s land. Yes, we were lucky; we had very few serious problems. We have a residential caravan in Margate so we can visit our 5 sons and 9 grandchildren.

How long has the North Cyprus Free Press been going?
The North Cyprus Free Press was launched in September 2009. I never intended running a newspaper. I’ve written unsuccessful novels and successful A level GCE exam papers as a Principal Examiner but never articles. I was a lecturer in ICT and taught web design even though it was not that interesting to me. I was head of Business Studies and ICT at a Technology College. I run several websites including www.ontheisland.co.uk but have no journalism experience.

What made you decide to start the website?
The reason I decided to start the North Cyprus Free Press online newspaper was because of the reporting in Cyprus Today, particularly the “Ged the hairdresser” story where they accused him of forgery despite his never being charged. I thought that if there was a newspaper which people could turn to when no one else would publish their story then this might give hope to these people. I am very wary of taking things on face value as part of my current job is to check the standards of A level GCE coursework in the UK and to adjust school and college marks. I have to write reports which justify these changes and these have to be based on facts not just my opinions in case there is an appeal. Publishing articles requires similar skills.

Does the website have any political preferences or philosophies?
My own politics include libertarian pacifist responsible non-aggressive free speech with leanings towards Taoism, Existentialism and a variant of the Cargo Cult which involves worshipping objects washed up on the shore of the island the members of the cult inhabit. In my own variant of this, things appear on my path through life, serendipitously. But as far as NCFP is concerned the approach of the newspaper depends on who is writing the articles.
We have 8 contributors, Dominic Freeman (pseudonym) who specialised in the Cyprob, Hans Doeleman – chess and history, Vaughan Williams – engineering topics, John Pattison – property issues, Robin Melhuish – business correspondent, Natalie Nightingale (pseudonym) – environment, Georgina Rubb (pseudonym) – Restaurant Reviews, Fevzi Hussein – Embargoed! and of course myself – odds and sods.

Why do you think it is so difficult to find good unbiased news in Northern Cyprus?
It is difficult to find good unbiased news in Northern Cyprus because there appears to be a fear of expressing the truth just in case you upset someone with the ability to make your life a misery, as has happened to me previously when I was threatened with legal consequences by prosecution of lawyers. There is also inertia against changing things and this means that if freedoms are not fought for they are taken away. Plus nothing much happens most of the time.

Do you think Cyprus as a whole is at an important stage in its history at the moment?
Not only Cyprus but the human race as a whole is at an important stage in its history at the moment. The proliferation of nuclear arms has moved petty squabbles to a much more dangerous level and along with population outstripping food production and the scarcity of other resources this makes conflict more likely and more dangerous. I see the human race as having only recently moved from being wild animals with all the tendencies of a pack of dangerous animals but with claws replaced by much more destructive weapons. I am not certain that as a group they can overcome their barbarous origins. I sometimes blame words for a lot of the problems we face, and find it strange that sentences involving “Cypriot,” “Greek” and “Turkish” can lead to people being seriously injured or even killed. Humans invest power into words and give them meaning that the people speaking them often don’t intend.

To quote the great Greek philosopher Annie Nonymous, from North London I believe,  “it’s a funny old world  ain’t it.”

How can people get involved?
People can become involved in North Cyprus Free Press in any way they feel is needed. For example, if they want to promote their blues band then they should write an article about the Blues and add what their band is doing at the end. Everyone should be their own Press Officer for things that interest them and they should keep sending me their Press Releases.

Many thanks to Malcolm for the answers, Lincguide wishes him every success with the new site. The North Cyprus Free Press can be found at www.northcyprusfreepress.com or email Malcolm on editor@3cyprus.com