Tweet
...Hypocrites and Parasites
Country not ready for media endorsement of political parties
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
JOURNALIST of the Year 2011, Nadine McLeod, has suggested that Jamaicans are not yet ready to handle the endorsement of political parties by the local media.
McLeod said there were allegations from the public that media houses were partial to political parties and asked "...if there's any truth to allegations that some media houses or journalists are partisan, then why don't media houses outrightly endorse a political party or a candidate? After all, there's free speech and it is accepted in other parts of the world".
The Television Jamaica (TVJ) journalist was speaking on the State of the Media, a feature of the annual National Journalism Awards last Friday night at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston. She topped her colleagues for the award of Journalist of the Year based on an outstanding body of work over the past year.
McLeod noted that in the 2004 US presidential election campaign, both the Washington Post and the New York Times had endorsed Democratic Party nominee Senator John Kerry in their editorials. Just last week Sunday, New Hamphire's largest newspaper openly endorsed former House speaker Newt Gingrich who is running for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
"It's quite common in some places in Africa. In Sierra Leone, journalists say it's the norm. Back home here in Jamaica, we have to ask a question — is our population politically mature enough to deal with this practice? And will the practice compromise objectivity?
"For some, the question about why media houses and journalists do not endorse candidates or political parties may seem outrageous. Tonight, I ask the question, not only to highlight the outrage in endorsing only one viewpoint — and let me qualify, outrage at this time in history — but also to suggest that if media houses or journalists are secretly engaging in this kind of practice, it does not benefit the profession.
"If whatever you do secretly, as it relates to your job, cannot be done openly, then a red flag should immediately go up in your mind," she insisted.
— Desmond Allen
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1fkeo4kUR
Country not ready for media endorsement of political parties
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
JOURNALIST of the Year 2011, Nadine McLeod, has suggested that Jamaicans are not yet ready to handle the endorsement of political parties by the local media.
McLeod said there were allegations from the public that media houses were partial to political parties and asked "...if there's any truth to allegations that some media houses or journalists are partisan, then why don't media houses outrightly endorse a political party or a candidate? After all, there's free speech and it is accepted in other parts of the world".
The Television Jamaica (TVJ) journalist was speaking on the State of the Media, a feature of the annual National Journalism Awards last Friday night at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston. She topped her colleagues for the award of Journalist of the Year based on an outstanding body of work over the past year.
McLeod noted that in the 2004 US presidential election campaign, both the Washington Post and the New York Times had endorsed Democratic Party nominee Senator John Kerry in their editorials. Just last week Sunday, New Hamphire's largest newspaper openly endorsed former House speaker Newt Gingrich who is running for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
"It's quite common in some places in Africa. In Sierra Leone, journalists say it's the norm. Back home here in Jamaica, we have to ask a question — is our population politically mature enough to deal with this practice? And will the practice compromise objectivity?
"For some, the question about why media houses and journalists do not endorse candidates or political parties may seem outrageous. Tonight, I ask the question, not only to highlight the outrage in endorsing only one viewpoint — and let me qualify, outrage at this time in history — but also to suggest that if media houses or journalists are secretly engaging in this kind of practice, it does not benefit the profession.
"If whatever you do secretly, as it relates to your job, cannot be done openly, then a red flag should immediately go up in your mind," she insisted.
— Desmond Allen
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1fkeo4kUR
Comment