Social Impact with Emma » media : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog

Hurricanes and the Media: Yes, We Have a Choice

September 10th, 2017

Hurricane Irma (and her boyfriend, following along behind, José) both decided not to bother with Jamaica, for which we are thankful. While the north coast had blue skies and sunshine however, down in Kingston we have had heavy showers, stopping and starting, and thunder grumbling away. A storm on Friday has sent our dogs into […]

Who Makes the News, Men or Women? I’ll Give You One Guess!

July 14th, 2016

WMW Jamaica (formerly Women’s Media Watch) is one of Jamaica’s most resilient, focused and long-running non-governmental organizations. Founded in 1987, WMW is volunteer-driven and passionately focused. Over the years, it has worked with journalists and diverse groups of women (and men) to raise awareness of gender – and how we talk, write and report on […]

A Conversation on the Move: Talking Media (and Ackee Walk) with Makeda Bawn

April 17th, 2016

Makeda Bawn and I are dodging raindrops on the campus of the University of Technology (UTech). We move from the Island Grill outlet (where a noisy game of dominoes dominates) to a set of waterproof concrete tables and chairs under a small tree. Warm, wet drops start falling. So, on to the Library, where Ms. […]

Thoughts on Campaign Finance: Does The Dog Wag His Own Tail?

October 9th, 2015

Back in 1997, a darkly humorous film was released entitled “Wag The Dog,” The stars were Dustin Hoffman, who played a Hollywood producer. Hoffman goes to work for a Washington spin doctor (Robert DiNiro) ahead of presidential elections. The movie, although fiction, had a ring of reality; the Lewinsky scandal broke just a few weeks later. […]

The Perils of the Wild Wood: Social Media and Politicians

January 5th, 2015

If in doubt… Don’t. Just don’t go there. That’s my advice, dear politician. Let me give you an illustration of what I am talking about. When I was growing up, I was very fond of an English classic called “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame (he was one of those children’s writers who was […]