The Observer's report on the debate... Weak..

[Skeng DX]

The first of three political debates between the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) got underway last night in the studios of the Creative Production and Training Centre in Kingston.

The 90-minute debate, which was scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm, focused on socio-economic issues from the perspective of the youth in both political parties and was contested by teams from both parties.



Dr Saphire Longmore, Warren Newby and Marlene Malahoo-Forte, who formed the JLP team; and Dr Dayton Campbell, Lisa Hanna and Raymond Pryce who made up the PNP team, arrived well in advance of the start time.

A live studio audience, consisting of about 90 persons, included representatives of the two major political parties, several youth groups, the private sector, the Jamaica Teachers' Association, and US Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater.

Twenty minutes before the start, Jamaica Debates Commission chairman Gary Allen introduced the commissioners, expressed gratitude to sponsors and extended a warm welcome to the audience.

Moderator was Archibald Gordon of TVJ and the panel of journalists who fired questions at the teams consisted of CVM-TV's Garfield Burford, the Observer's Ingrid Brown and TVJ's Nadine McLeod.

The other two debates will be held on Thursday, December 15, and Tuesday, December 20.


Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1gGGUV6C1

[Historian]

Maybe Nothing Special in This

There’s probably no need to read anything in the apparent lack of enthusiasm in this report, especially when measured against the Sunday Gleaner’s sensationalist slant. The Observer news story that you have posted is probably nothing more than a reflection of the low priority given by the Observer’s news editor(s) to the debates.

What the Observer apparently did was publish a purely objective report. Whether the lack of detail and quotations is subtle newsroom bias is open to debate, of course. However, if you look carefully, you will see that this short report is almost textbook-style inverted pyramid writing, with no hint of editorializing or otherwise sensationalizing of the subject matter by the reporter. After the usual summary lead, the report merely concentrated on the 5W’s of the event in descending order of importance.

Of course, for those readers always seeking political blood, the absence of the rather over-hyped Sunday Gleaner headline (“Sharp Attack! Pryce, Malahoo Forte Trade Insults”) in the Observer’s comparatively neutral news report must be a big letdown.

[Sickko]

Or it could be that the Observer "went to bed" earlier than the Gleaner and so this story was done before the actual debate started

[Peter R]

..suppose the JLP had won the debate (as cording to the pundits the PNP won) would the story have been different? assuming they had not gone to bed as Sickko suggested... hmmm

[Historian]

Good Point

Or it could be that the Observer "went to bed" earlier than the Gleaner and so this story was done before the actual debate started

Very good point, Sickko. That possibility actually occurred to me when I first saw the limited content in the body of the story.

[Exile]

They are already in-bed with the JLP the experts here say. So if the debate didn't go their way why report on the specifics? ie WHAT was said.? Just give date and time, who was there (who, what, when, where). What ever happened to the WHAT?

[Historian]

Interesting Question

..suppose the JLP had won the debate (as cording to the pundits the PNP won) would the story have been different? assuming they had not gone to bed as Sickko suggested... hmmm

It is impossible to tell. We can speculate, of course. The fact is that there is no loss of journalistic credibility in this particular report. The journalist wrote this story in a way that straight news stories should ideally be written: objectively and from “a distance.”

Nevertheless, more could have been included in this story, provided, of course, that a proper balance of whatever opinions are included is maintained. This is why I tend to lean towards Sickko’s suggestion.

[Mosiah]

I wonder.

[Sickko]

Lets see what the Observer says tomorrow then...

[Mosiah]

that's one way to look at it.