Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) during a press conference on September 18, 2026. Photo: GIS

Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) appeared on Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on July 20, 2026, and accused a media house of manipulatiing the public with its reporting on his response to water storage while on the show. Photo: Facebook

Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) doubled down on his advise in investing in a cistern or water tanks if potable water is an issue. Photo: Internet Source

The Premier referred to his appearance on Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on July 20, 2026, during which he was asked whether persons should continue building houses with cisterns as storage.

“I said yes, of course they should, besides the fact that that’s a requirement from Town and Country Planning; I just said it’s a smart thing to do so for whatever reason you’re not getting water, you have storage through a cistern or through a black tank,” he clarified during a press conference on Friday, September 18, 2026. 

Inaccurate & misleading reporting

“I was very disappointed in how one of the media houses reported that as though I was telling persons who are not getting water to go and buy black tanks. That was, in my view, manipulation of the public; it was inaccurate, and it was very misleading.” 

Premier Wheatley went on to urge media houses to be more responsible in their reporting, especially with the headlines. 

“Most times in the body of the story you have accurate information, most times, but in the headlines, you have a lot of misleading headlines.”

He also called on members of the public to take responsibility as well for the information they consume, to go further than the headlines and read the actual stories. 

“Also, if you have the opportunity to listen to the House of Assembly, listen to the press conferences,” to get the information for themselves, as they cannot rely on “these misleading headlines” for information.

The culpable media house was resurrected just before the election season.

Among those who jumped on the opportunity to publicly criticise the premier for his remarks on Talking Points were Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of the National Democratic Party (NDP) Hon Marlon A. Penn (R8) and former NDP President Bishop John I. Cline.

'I love the media'

When one reporter present at the press conference pushed back, defending that headlines are meant to capture the readers’ attention so that they read the stories, Premier Wheatley replied that people sometimes just rely on the headline and draw conclusions without getting the right information 

“I love the media; the media is very important to be able to get information to the public, but the media has a responsibility to report facts and not biased opinions.”

Media, he added, is supposed to be neutral, a middle ground, present people with the information, and let them decide for themselves.