Big points lost by The Observer
Desmond Allen
WITHIN SIX days, April 12 to April 18, The Observer lost two big
points! Unnecessarily too. Its treatment of the response by the board of
the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) to the paper's exclusive on
the Claudette Lawrence story, and the press conference hosted by the new
Public Defender represented two wicked blows to the solar plexus of
journalism.
Colleagues we need to be fair in our news stories, even if we feel like
taking sides, in which case we have the opinion columns and the editorials.
Much space was given to Ms. Lawrence to give her side of the story of how
she lost her job at the NIBJ during the 'fat salary' affair. It is only
just that the NIBJ board should have been given equal chance to reply.
That's what sets the true journalist apart from the pretender. At the very
least, the NIBJ reply (Observer April 12, page one), should have been run
in full, especially since it was shorter than the space accorded Ms.
Lawrence.
Then there was the big red headline trumpeting 'Rasta religion', with the
subhead adding 'Public Defender going to court for ruling on Rastafarian
faith', Observer April 18, page one, coming out of the press conference
called by Mr. Howard Hamilton, Q.C. That was either a cynical attempt at
sensationalism or someone just missed the thing altogether, out of
ignorance. Fortunately, The Gleaner was there to save face for journalism
with its headline "First order of business". From The Gleaner story, it was
clear the Public Defender was about much more than 'Rasta Religion'.
Spike readers' comments
Dear Spike, I am a regular reader of your column and was as pleased
as you were at Pepsi's seeming sensitivity to the concerns you expressed
concerning a particular advertisement. I was very dismayed, however, to see
the re-emergence of the said ad during the commercials of the cricket match
played between the West Indies and Pakistan on Sunday last (April 9). I
think this soft drink giant deserves a spike and would like to warn them
that they continue to operate in defiance of well meant and constructive
criticisms at their own peril.
C. St. John Walker, ittawa@yahoo.com.
Hi Spike, how fitting that the very day after I truly listened to the
D&G Red Stripe ad and witnessed first-hand how it captivated my kids, you
were kind enough to share the e-mail comment from Edward Morris (Spike
April 17). Edward's e-mail says it all, but let me just take a moment to
clarify why the advertising or marketing folks at D&G ought to consider
scrapping this ad, if they have not done so already and instead come up
with a fun-loving ad that does not harp on nudity, but is still
interesting.
We were listening to RJR sports live via the Internet good quality sound
too by the way. My 4-year-old son was playing with his truck and my
11-year-old daughter was on one of those kids sites while RJR was going on
in the background. The advert came on and both kids immediately stopped
what they were doing and started to jokingly strip and have a grand time
with this ad. We were attempting to catch up on Boys Champs via the
Internet. The ad succeeded in getting their attention as well as mine, but
please D&G, I hope by now you have cut the nudity sales pitch portion of
the ad.
Trevor Jackson, JacksonT@daleparks.com.
Hi Desmond, you know, people who criticise should be extra careful
that they don't themselves step in cow flap. Here's an example, from your
last column (Spike April 17), in which someone called Squabby wrote: 'I
just read your article on journalist (sic) with cameras...It is a common
site (sic) here in Toronto...' Take care.
Keeble McFarlane, keeble.mack@sympatico.ca.
Dear Spike, it seems to me that it would be better that the Press
Association of Jama ica (PAJ) be named the Media Heads Association of
Jamaica, as the present body is really a representation of media executives
and has little or no interaction with reporters. Wouldn't it be better to
have a Reporters Associa-tion of Jamaica separately, which would operate as
a lobby group to agitate on pertinent industry related issues, such as
salaries, career mobilisation, ongoing in-service education programmes
including seminars and workshops for journalists, as well as a facility
which will make provision for scholarships. All of these are real concerns
facing reporters in our newsrooms. Seems to me that we on the ground have
no one in our corner. I can't see where or how the PAJ, or is it MAJ (I've
seen it referred to as both) is serving our needs adequately.
The present body could start taking a more aggressive stance and using
their influence against public servants and government organisations who
withhold information from reporters or prevent reporters from carrying out
their duties as watchdogs for the people. You guys really need to get some
bite and substance.
Karen Taylor, journalist.
Dear Desmond, here we go again. This time it's Balford Henry in The
Sunday Gleaner 2000 April 9. The caption is correct from the point of view
of the conch being an endangered species. The story, however, could well be
regarded as an infomercial for conch harvesters who have a complaint
against the delays in implementing an acceptable regulatory framework for
the harvesting of conch.
Jamaica being a signatory to the international treaties which seek to
protect endangered species, has been slow to create a regulatory framework
that encourages and enforces conservation practices. This is now being
done.
Sometimes we, however, take too long in acting. The fact that harvesting
season is still closed might be bad for harvesters this year, but good for
them over the next few years, as this respite has given the conch more time
to reproduce and grow more, thereby ensuring the supply for a longer period
of time, if over-harvesting is controlled when the season is open.
The last paragraph, however, indicates that even if the season were open,
the European market would be closed to Jamaican conch, because the
processing facilities are unsanitary. This problem sadly is true for too
many of our food processing facilities, as those who own them don't care,
and don't understand why food must be prepared under sanitary conditions!
Of course, when regulators insist that they comply with basic health
requirements, the processors can rely on media houses to complain on their
behalf, under the guise of investigative journalism.
Garth Soares, garth.soares@cwjamaica.com.
Send your spikeables to: spike@jol.com.jm;
desal@cwjamaica.com
or fax to 926-0295.
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