Journalists: vanguards of democracy

Like any profession, journalism has evolved over time. In this technological era, many consider it the 'now' age of news. As it happens, it is presented, often with the viewer/listener getting a blow-by-blow account as it unfolds. Some 'old-timers' agree that it is a far cry from what they were used to. In the old days, sometimes the public didn't even get the 'breaking news' until days later.

This week, as the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) celebrates its 67th year of Journalism Week, we take a look at those who have stood tall and held the profession high, and glimpse into the minds of those who are charged with maintaining its standards and take it through another memorable era.

Easily, names like Fae Ellington, Tony Becca, John Maxwell, Barbara Gloudon, Wilmot 'Motty' Perkins, Claire Forrester, Winston Sill, Desmond Allen, Barbara Gayle and Headley 'Dellmar' Samuels are among those that come to mind when we think of journalists who have kept us informed and entertained from 'Johnny was a boy', as grandma would say.

In today's generation, we are quite familiar with names like Cliff Hughes, Gary Spaulding, Milton Walker, Arthur Hall, Daraine Luton, Desmond Richards, Garfield Burford, Dionne Jackson-Miller, Archibald Gordon, Rohan Powell, Carol Francis, Irving Forbes, Nadine McLeod, Claude Mills, Karyl Walker, H.G. Helps, Barbara Ellington, and Michael Sharpe, to mention a few, as those who have been carrying the torch high.

Homage must also be paid to those who have passed on, like founder of the PAJ, Evon Blake; Theodore Sealy, Terry Smith, Dudley Stokes, Calvin Bowen, Monica Mason, Joan Barnett, Clifton Segree, Eric 'Macko' McNeish, Michael Pryce, among others.

And these are just a fraction of the countless journalists across the print and electronic media who have brought the news alive, gave us laughter, took us into the hot zones, gave us the breaking stories, uncovered the buried secrets, held our public servants accountable - to sum it up 'make the uncomfortable comfortable, and the comfortable uncomfortable'. Men and women who have been making their mark and influencing the course of history with outstanding journalism.

High standards

Veteran journalist Fae Ellington feels journalists today need to have very high standards, aim for excellence and understand that they are functioning in a global community in media.

"Everything can be seen and heard almost instantaneously and to have a competitive edge, you must be the very best,' said Ellington, whose career spans 36 years. "In the Caribbean, we are working with bilingual societies. Get a good command of standard English. Although English is the official language, it is not the first language of most people. You find assumptions are made about the standard of people's English. It has to become a way of life. You need to be as competent and confident in standard English as you are in your native tongue."

A tutor at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) since 1985, Ellington said this allows her the opportunity to share her hands-on experience with budding media aspirants.

Holder of several awards, Ellington said the highlight of her career was covering countless national and state events over the years.

"Since 1977, I have covered every prime minister and governor general's funeral, including Alexander Bustamante's," she shared with pride.

Fifty-year veteran John Maxwell believes in standing up for what you believe in. And he demonstrated this in 1999 when he successfully thwarted the efforts of the Jamaican Government to build houses at Hope, the nation's oldest and most famous botanical gardens. For this successful campaigning, he won first prize in the 2000 Sandals Resorts' annual Environmental Journalism Competition.

Now fostering the minds of aspiring journalists at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Maxwell is also the author of How to Make Our Own News: A Primer for Environmentalists and Journalists.

The PAJ's 2009 Journalist of the Year, Arthur Hall, believes tech-nological advancements have made doing the job much easier and better.

"I remember the days of typewriters, and looking at where we are now, it's a vast difference," said Hall, whose 16-year career has taken him from print to radio to television and back to print.

Honest and sceptical

Speaking to young journalists, the senior reporter at The Gleaner advises them to always be honest and sceptical.

"Always put yourself in the victim's shoe. Would you want someone to write that about you? Just always have integrity, be honest and true to the profession and have a commitment to writing the truth," he said.

TVJ's senior reporter Nadine McLeod is concerned about the lack of passion for the profession from the younger generation of journalists.

"Too many are more interested in the glitz and glamour of the job, going into entertainment journa-lism, being on TV, rubbing shoulders with the stars - than choosing hard-core journalism. You're just not finding young journalists with the passion for the job to ensure that the profession maintains its credibility," she said.

Young to the pro-fession, McLeod has been working behind the scenes in radio since 1999, but joined the TVJ news team in 2006, where her zeal for the profession and getting the news has come alive on TVJ news each night.