Gleaner editorial elicits strong reactions
Comments made by Professor Hopeton Dunn, Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission, about a running editorial in the Gleaner newspaper on so called "Gangs of Gordon House" have elicited strong reactions.
At a joint Press Association and Media Association of Jamaica function on Tuesday to observe World Press Freedom Day, Professor Dunn said journalists should spend less time placing labels on political representatives and instead investigate the ills being done by some politicians.
Speaking on RJR94fm’s Beyond the Headlines on Tuesday night, former Member of Parliament, John Junor said although the intention of the Gleaner may be to hold politicians accountable for their actions it is approaching it in the wrong way.
“If your objective is to in fact improve politics, what a way to go about it. Who do you think wants to be attracted to a place where the designation is that you are a bunch of gangsters getting together for your own interest. I think the whole thing is despicable quite frankly,” Mr. Junor said.
Meanwhile, Martin Henry, University of Technology Lecturer, is of the view that the newspaper is effectively using a metaphor although it has over worked it.
“You see a metaphor of limited value, you cannot press it to the extreme which is what I think the Gleaner is doing. But we cannot deny in terms of associating with violence, in association with turf-ism, in association with the struggle over scarce benefits there extraordinary similarities between the way politics have evolved and what gangs do on the ground,” Mr. Henry said.
Comments made by Professor Hopeton Dunn, Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission, about a running editorial in the Gleaner newspaper on so called "Gangs of Gordon House" have elicited strong reactions.
At a joint Press Association and Media Association of Jamaica function on Tuesday to observe World Press Freedom Day, Professor Dunn said journalists should spend less time placing labels on political representatives and instead investigate the ills being done by some politicians.
Speaking on RJR94fm’s Beyond the Headlines on Tuesday night, former Member of Parliament, John Junor said although the intention of the Gleaner may be to hold politicians accountable for their actions it is approaching it in the wrong way.
“If your objective is to in fact improve politics, what a way to go about it. Who do you think wants to be attracted to a place where the designation is that you are a bunch of gangsters getting together for your own interest. I think the whole thing is despicable quite frankly,” Mr. Junor said.
Meanwhile, Martin Henry, University of Technology Lecturer, is of the view that the newspaper is effectively using a metaphor although it has over worked it.
“You see a metaphor of limited value, you cannot press it to the extreme which is what I think the Gleaner is doing. But we cannot deny in terms of associating with violence, in association with turf-ism, in association with the struggle over scarce benefits there extraordinary similarities between the way politics have evolved and what gangs do on the ground,” Mr. Henry said.
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