Social Impact with Emma » social media : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

COVID-19 and Talking to the Press in Jamaica

May 5th, 2020

Many of us might not have noticed it: Sunday, May 3 was World Press Freedom Day 2020. The theme was Journalism Without Fear or Favour. The day is usually observed with some kind of public forum organized by the Press Association of Jamaica. With the pandemic on, obviously that was not possible. The Prime Minister […]

Get Safe Online – and Learn Some Life Skills

March 8th, 2020

The Broadcasting Commission is doing a grand job with public education. I do love their television ads, which are vibrant, well targeted and have a big dose of Jamaican energy and humor. Their “What If?” commercial (here’s the hip-hop version) is very well crafted, targeting youth with their warnings about the use or misuse of […]

2019: A Year of Internet Shutdowns, Disinformation, and Distrust

December 28th, 2019

2019 has been the year of “Internet shutdowns.” No, I am not talking about Jamaican companies that fail to deliver the services that we pay for. I am talking about shutdowns initiated by governments that are afraid of their own citizens. The Internet has become the lifeblood of many societies in almost every country you […]

My Alternative to Being “Scared For the Holidays”

December 14th, 2019

I read a blog post by journalist Kate Chappell, and it made me think. Yes, crime is on the increase. Yes, the roads are a mess. Traffic (and bad driving) has reached another level. Noise pollution (now encouraged by the Government’s amendment to the Noise Abatement Act) has reached new highs. And Kate is right – […]

The Netizens of Global Voices Celebrate Fifteen Years of Activism

December 12th, 2019

Happy birthday, Global Voices! I am proud to be a contributor to Global Voices and a member of the “GV Family,” which is now celebrating its fifteenth year. What voices, and where, you might ask? Well, GV is an amazingly diverse network, a digital community populated by people you could sit down for hours and […]

Cockpit Country: Is It Really All About the Boundaries?

November 29th, 2019

Ceiling fans whirred and night sounds crept through the windows of the Webb Memorial Baptist Church in Stewart Town, Trelawny earlier this evening. A Town Hall Meeting was in progress, streamed live on Facebook on the websites of the sponsors, the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ), the Public Access Channel (PAC) and the Jamaica Gleaner. […]

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