2012 was the year in which I became part of the blogging community. So far it’s been a wonderful journey of exploration, providing yet another opportunity for me to do what I love best – communicate, tell stories, and explore current events and the law. Thanks to all those who contributed to my 28,000 views in 2012 (yay!) by reading, commenting, and sharing! I am looking forward to a great and productive 2013. I have lots of plans for the blog so please keep reading.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 28,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 6 Film Festivals.
Hurricane coverage is serious business. The newsroom is divided into two teams, Team A members who work before and during the storm, and Team B, who come in for the aftermath. It’s one of the things you know when you take on the job – when others are heading home, you’re heading to work. And let’s be honest – we enjoy it! Here’s a peek into some of the behind the scenes work that went into what you saw on TV and heard on radio!
First of course is the proper garb. When you expect to be wading through mud and muck and perhaps knee high water and standing in rain, the obligatory head-to-toe yellow rain gear is a must!!!
Kimone & Ivan decked out & ready to hit the road Photo by DJ Miller
Well, not everybody can be on the road. The in-house crew is just as important and often much more stressed, fielding questions like “My daughter needs to leave home now. Which route should she take?” Truly. Of course, team members like Karen Madden-James pull a full shift in-house and THEN hit the road, checking out hurricane damage and coming across community protests against police shootings, and wounded police officers. All in a day’s work, right Karen??
Karen prepares the newscast while Nadine helps out with the ever-ringing phone Photo by DJ Miller
The weather team never gets a break - checking the latest information, getting updates, and
Evan and Duwayne track the weather Photo by DJ Miller
always ready to go on air at a moment’s notice. Great job guys!
And although it was rain, no play for most events while Sandy jogged across Jamaica, there is always a game somewhere, right Ricardo?
Ricardo takes a moment from checking the scores Photo by DJ Miller
Time to hit the road since there wasn’t a lot of impact in and around Kingston. The All Angles team set off to capture images of Hurricane Sandy for our viewers. First stop – Harbour View, where the sea view from the bridge was truly impressive! We tried estimating wave heights, my best guess was 15-20 feet, but producer Andre Jebbinson insisted that the waves were closer to 30 feet.
The view from the Harbour View bridge Photo by DJ Miller
Just outside Harbour View we had to stop again to watch the waves crashing against the shore, and throwing debris across the road. Vehicles made their way along cautiously, scores of people were snapping pictures or just watching the show, while a few Good Samaritans pulled debris out of the way of the few vehicles on the road.
A bus makes its way along the debris-strewn road Photo by DJ Miller
Sight-seeing during Hurricane Sandy – outside Harbour View Photo by DJ Miller
Andre fights the wind
Watching the storm Photo by DJ Miller
Then we decided to head for St. Thomas. There were reports of blocked roads and flooding and we wanted to see what
El Dorado puts his machete to good use Photo by DJ Miller
was happening. But it was not easy going. Good thing our cameraman El Dorado had the foresight to take along a machete!
There were many such trees and road blocks along the way, but we were determined to get as far as we could.
Capturing Sandy in action Photo by DJ Miller
Well, we made it as far as Pamphret, outside Yallahs. We had hoped to get to White Horses, but couldn’t quite make it, not because of the road, but because duty called me back to Kingston, arriving just a few minutes late for my on-air stint on Beyond the Headlines.
So I finally dug this post out of one called Stanford! When I saw him get a response to his persistence I pounced...poor thing...but I'm tenacious, as he no doubt now realizes (and you're welcome for the space, Stanny!). And this is why I kept at him: every so often I'd see @stannyha tweet to @NEPAJamaica about some smuggled rare parrots.
Русский: Флаг Ямайки Slovenščina: državna zastava Jamajke “The Sun shineth, the land is green, and the people are strong and bold” is the symbolism of the colours of the flag. BLACK represents the strength and creativity of the people; GREEN represents hope and agricultural resources; GOLD represents the natural wealth and beauty of sunlight. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So even our music has fallen victim to that agent of change – the election. Some months ago, I was perplexed to see people calling for Eric Donaldson’s “Land of my Birth” to be made the official Jamaica 50 song. What the hell? I thought. We already HAVE a Jamaica 50 song! Remember? The song, “Find the Flag” was produced by the respected veteran Mikey Bennett and officially presented to the country.
Let me reiterate that. The song was officially and publicly presented to the country last October. If you don’t believe me, or never heard about it, read this story by Mel Cooke in the Jamaica Gleaner.
Except… silly me. There was an election. For months we heard nothing of Find the Flag - the official Jamaica 50 song – until another story in the Observer told us the song had been shelved.
Shelved? How could it be shelved? It’s the Jamaica 50 song! Not any more, apparently!
The Jamaica 50 secretariat (under, as they say, new management) now says that there was no documentation that the song had been commissioned or was the Jamaica 50 song. Emm….. it was officially presented to the country! No, that didn’t count.
Mikey Bennett says it is customary for him to work based on verbal agreements, and after all, this was an agreement with officials from the Government of Jamaica, not some fly-by-night outfit. He also says there were some disagreements over the cost of the song, until he and the artistes decided that they would donate the song for use in the celebrations for free, and communicated this fact to the Ministry. He told me that his publisher was in the process of putting together the necessary documentation.
He has since realized that the song has been dumped as the Jamaica 50 song, and all the artistes who worked for many passionate, excited hours with him have been calling to ask what the hell is going on. Bennett says one of his primary concerns is whether anyone thinks he was “trying a ting,” pulling a fast one, and misrepresenting the agreement with the Culture Ministry.
Apparently, some kind of compromise has since been cobbled together which should see the song being used somewhere in the Jamaica 50 celebrations. Former Culture Minister Babsy Grange, who has said she is upset at how the situation was handled, met with current Minister Lisa Hanna and says this was one of the matters discussed.
Please note that I’m not commenting on whether I like Find the Flagor the song which has now been introduced to the country as the Jamaica 50 campaign song, Nation on a Mission. My problem is much more fundamental – it’s how we do things.
I’m not getting into any argument with anybody about which song is better.
The fact is, a song was chosen and then rejected by a subsequent government. I have a serious issue with how this has been handled. This smacks of disrespect of the highest order.
The same Reporter’s Guide to Jamaica 50 listed the following singers as participants in the Jamaica 50 song - Bunny Rugs, Ken Boothe, Marcia Griffiths, Freddy McGregor,Tarrus Riley, Cocoa T, Konshens, Mr Vegas, Ernie Smith, Agent Sasko, Capleton, Chevelle Franklyn, Stitchie and Admiral Bailey. These are among our best artistes. There were also the musicians and technical crew, many of them also well-known names.
I make no comment on the Culture Minister’s claims that the Jamaica 50 programme had to be streamlined and re-organised. I’ll leave that argument to the current and former holders of that office.
I am, however, saying that the work of the professionals involved in creating the song should have been respected. The clear decision of the previous administration that Find the Flagwas the official Jamaica 50 song should have been let alone.
I think that the shelving of Find the Flagwas totally unnecessary and brings to mind some of the sillier parts of our political history – remember the change from Jamaica Information Service (JIS) to Agency for Public Information (API) back to JIS anyone?
I hold no brief for Mikey Bennet and the musicians and artistes who worked on Find the Flag. I am not a musician. But I am a Jamaican, and I don’t like what happened here.
Denton Edwards, the decorator who says he was contracted to decorate the Montego Bay Civic Centre for the swearing-in of the Mayor this afternoon issued a statement on the matter.
He says that he was contacted by the St. James Parish Council on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 at 10:30 am to provide potted plants for the ceremony the next day. At approximately 7:30 pm he was also asked to provide a backdrop for the function which was to start at 12 noon.
He says on the morning of the 29th he started work, and then was told that he needed to complete the job by 11 am, as guests were to be seated at 11.30. He left the civic centre at approximately 9:00 am to get plants and floral arrangements.
He said when he returned he continued work on the backdrop and had completed the upper green section of the flag when he was instructed by an official from the Office of the Prime Minister (Western Region)
“to forego the completion of the green in the interest of time to which I complied.”
Mr. Edwards said in his statement that:
“I wish to note that there was no shortage of green cloth to complete the task and would have been able to complete the backdrop depicting the Jamaican Flag if I was afforded the opportunity so to do.
He also states that:
“As it relates to published reports that I have committed to refund the contracted amount of $30,000.00, I wish to hereby refute such claim as I am currently out of pocket in terms of the cost of the project.”
Mr. Edwards has retained George Thomas, Attorney-at-law to act on his behalf.
We’ve been going to, or watching, Jamaica’s National Boys and Girls Championships (or Champs) for years, so I think many of us take for granted the incredible vibes of this annual event. The world has now awakened to the fantastic show Jamaica puts on every year and international journalists can often be seen trackside.
Here are four reasons Champs is so great.
The intense competition– a Trini friend of mine once commented that she found it amazing how the entire country rallied behind high schools in the way we do here. Perhaps because we have not traditionally had that rivalry at the tertiary level, we concentrate all our energy on the high schools. Men in their fifties and sixties ride around with high school bumper stickers and wear their high school ties with pride. Um, that sounded strange. Anyway, that’s the rivalry that sets the stage for intense competition at Champs.
The talent– Champs is not all about track and field. If it were, the Stadium would be equally packed for the Jamaica Invitational, and National Senior and Junior Trials. Having said that, you are guaranteed to see incredible displays of talent, and the next generation of international stars.
The show– Even if you are not a track and field fan, it doesn’t matter. Champs is the place to be, and you will have a good time. The cheering, the hype, the palpable excitement in the air, the constant action, all ensure a great show.
Big men blowing little plastic horns- these are probably the same men wearing their high school ties and going around yelling “Fortis!” and “Rat Attack!” Slightly weird on one level, but good fun all the same. Assuming, that is, that you’re not sandwiched between two of them, in which case you’re likely to go home feeling slightly deaf.
So whether you’re from Munro, or a member of the Rat Pack, from Papine High or Morant Bay High (hey, we got seven points!) let’s celebrate something we are doing not just well, but extremely well.
What’s not fun – the continuing hooliganism of those who feel that an appropriate reaction to the end of Champs is to throw bottles at people below. This happens in the bleachers. I suspect if bottles were being rained down on the dignitaries in the VIP box in the grandstand a stop would have been put to it a long time ago. Wha dem say? Donkey say de worl’ nuh level. True ting.
Yesterday I joined the throngs of people rushing to the Constant Spring Tax Office to give Caesar his due. Three hours later I emerged, back aching, bleary-eyed, hungry, in fact, totally pop dung, as one of my colleagues commented.
I’m not taking on the three-hour waiting time to do a three-minute transaction, not today at least. I did wait until nearly the last minute and I didn’t try to file online. No, my complaint today is far more basic.
Is it really beyond someone in Customer Service, or for that matter, anyone in the entire Tax Department to suggest that chairs be provided for taxpayers? It has now become commonplace for business places with good customer service to have a numbering system and a place you can sit and wait. Hell, the passport office, another government agency with excruciatingly long waiting times, albeit all year round, has provided two tents and chairs outside for customers, and there are more chairs once you get inside.
So what’s with the tax department? Too busy collecting money to think about the people paying it? This one is a no-brainer. Hey, I’m a taxpayer, I wouldn’t object to a couple thousand dollars being spent on some chairs. Would you?
“i’m being painted as this evil ‘D.J. by day, don by night’ murderer who is society’s number one cause of crime and violence. The police is using the media to slaughter me and as such i don’t think i will get a fair trial. They are using the media to form public opinion of me that is so contradictory to the person that I really am. They (police) have tried my case in the public & found me guilty.”
I therefore thought it would be interesting to revisit the Privy Council case which dealt with this issue and which attorney-at-law Clyde Williams highlighted recently in a discussion with me on Beyond the Headlines.
In that case, Grant and Others v Director of Public Prosecutions(1980) 30 WIR 246, the courts decided that the pre-trial publicity did not rise to the level that demonstrated that the accused would be unable to get a fair trial despite what the Privy Council called “the campaign in the Gleaner newspapers against the appellants.” The Court of Appeal said that it was not enough to show, as the Courts agreed had been done, that there had been “adverse publicity… likely to have a prejudicial effect on the minds of potential jurors.”
Instead, what has to be shown is that “the prejudice is so widespread and so indelibly impressed on the minds of potential jurors that it is unlikely that a jury unaffected by it can be obtained.”
This is such a high bar, that we are unlikely to see any accused persons reach it any time soon.
How bad was the publicity and what did the courts say?
The case was brought by persons accused of murder and conspiracy in the notorious case which came to be known as the Green Bay killings. NB – The case also dealt with a procedural point which I am not examining here.
Background
In the early hours of Thursday 5th January 1978, there was an operation by the Army at Green Bay (the army firing range) in the parish of St Catherine and five persons were killed.
The allegations were that these five persons and others had been lured to their death at Green Bay by members of the Military Intelligence Unit of the Jamaica Defence Force, but that some of them escaped and made the matter public.
Coroner’s Inquest
The jury at a coroner’s inquest concluded that the deceased died of gun-shot wounds, and had been murdered; but said they could determine by whom.
Charges
The DPP charged five persons with conspiracy to murder, two of them and another five persons were also charged with the murders.
These people stated that after the inquest, they became the target of “massive pre-trial publicity and prejudice” in the public media in general and, in particular, in the Daily Gleaner and Star newspapers.
They sought to establish, among other things, that they would therefore be unable to get a “fair hearing” as was their right under section 20 (1) of the Constitution which states that anyone charged with a criminal offence must:
“be afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court established by law…’
Supreme Court
The applicants had first applied to the Full Court which dismissed their application.
This was despite a statement by Chief Justice Smith that the:
“evidence presented overwhelmingly establishes that there has been pre-trial publicity, of the widest dissemination, which is calculated to create widespread prejudice of the gravest kind against the [appellants] in respect of their trial, which is pending..”
Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal also dismissed their appeal.
The Court of Appeal had referred to the English case of Attorney-General v Times Newspapers Ltd ([1973] 3 All ER 54. [1974] AC 273) where Lord Reid, while noting the need to balance conflicting interests, stated that
‘There has long been and there still is in this country a strong and generally-held feeling that trial by newspaper is wrong and should be prevented…”
The Publicity
The Court of Appeal referred to the material presented to it including the following:
Gleaner Headline
A headline in the Daily Gleaner on Tuesday 23rd May 1978 read ‘It was murder at Green Bay, says jury’ and which the appellants said would “lead the ignorant, the unsophisticated and even ordinary members of the public unaware of legal niceties, to form the view that the appellants had been tried and found guilty of murder by a jury of their peers in criminal proceedings.”
Even though the Court of Appeal acknowledged that in the body of the report, it was correctly stated that the jury did not name the murderers, the Court said that
“it set the stage so to speak.”
The Court stated, however, that the particular report could not, in itself, be regarded as prejudicing the appellants’ case since the jury, in effect, had reached that verdict.
Carl Stone Poll
The Court, in its judgment delivered by Justice Carberry, then referred to a poll carried out by Dr. Carl Stone and which it called:
“an item that was surely one of the most astonishing ever in the fields of journalism and the reporting and covering of criminal proceedings…”
Dr. Stone had sworn an affidavit in which he stated that a minimum of 75 per cent of all persons interviewed were aware of the Green Bay affair, and 57 per cent had formed advance opinions in relation to the army personnel involved.
The Court said that the poll would confirm the view of the majority, unsettle the minority and persuade the uncommitted.
Sunday Gleaner article
The Sunday Gleaner of May 28th, 1978 published an article headed ‘Green Bay: what made them do it?’ which, according to the Court, proceeded on:
“the assumption of guilt of cold-blooded murder on the part of the appellants, who had already been indicted by the evidence, to dismiss any possible defence as a ‘farrago of lies and fairy tales’ which ‘would fail to fool an imbecile child’ and to address itself to a discussion of the evidence and speculation as to what inspired the Jamaica Defence Force to involve itself in cold-blooded murder? In the comment that followed, readers were invited to conclude that this was a plot to kill gunmen allegedly belonging to the opposition so as to further the military career of those involved, to discredit the Opposition and to lay the foundation for further atrocities of a like nature.”
Number of Articles
Counsel for one of the appellants reported that there were some seventeen similar articles in the space of a little over one month. After the appellants had been arrested, an additional 80-odd articles were published.
Why dismiss the appeal?
So why did the Court of Appeal rule against the appellants?
Justice Carberry said the Court had weighed the following factors:
- the seriousness of the prejudice, and its likely effect on the jury;
- the interest of society in the enforcement of the law and
- the availability of methods which could minimise the prejudice, but which had not yet been tried, namely:
a challenge to the jury
change of venue and
postponements.
The Justices of Appeal maintained that they were …
“not, however, satisfied that the likelihood is that the minds of such potential jurors would be so indelibly prejudiced that the means available to a trial court (in particular, the challenge of jurors and the warning by the trial judge to jurors to put aside prejudice) would be ineffective to ensure a fair hearing by an impartial tribunal.’
I’ve quoted extensively from the Court of Appeal judgment because the judges at the Privy Council clearly found it highly persuasive.
In delivering the ruling of the Privy Council, Lord Diplock quoted Justice White who said in the Supreme Court (1979) 29 WIR at pp 275, 276) that :
“…it is previous and premature to suggest that the pre-trial publicity will have had such an effect that a judge and a jury of twelve persons cannot be found in Jamaica to give careful and objective audition to the evidence, and earnestly and conscientiously to deliberate the issues that will be raised thereby, and so give a true verdict according to the evidence. I reject any such notion as untenable, and as displaying a most regrettable lack of confidence in, and respect for, the institutions established to this end.’
Lord Diplock also quoted Justice Carberry in the Court of Appeal who said that the appellants had to show:
“that there is likely to be a failure to afford them a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. It is not sufficient for them to establish (as they have done) that there has been adverse publicity which is likely to have a prejudicial effect on the minds of potential jurors. They must go further, and establish that the prejudice is so widespread and so indelibly impressed on the minds of potential jurors that it is unlikely that a jury unaffected by it can be obtained. We are not satisfied that they have established this, having regard to the common law remedial measures which we indicated arc available to a trial court.’
The common law remedial measures being referred to were:
- change of venue to a different parish from that in which the deceased lived;
- postponing the trial to allow potential jurors to forget the adverse publicity and
- the exercise of the judge’s discretion to allow each juror to be questioned as to his freedom from bias despite the pre-trial publicity.
Having referred to these statements in the Courts below, Lord Diplock stated that:
“The judiciary in Jamaica have wide and up-to-date experience of juries in criminal cases. In face of their opinion that, despite the prejudicial pretrial publicity that had taken place, it had not been shown that it would be impossible to impanel an impartial jury, their Lordships, lacking that experience, would hesitate long and anxiously before being persuaded to the contrary.”
The Privy Council stated that, along with the ruling of the Court of Appeal they considered the fact that counsel for the appellents had declined to argue that it would be impossible to find an impartial Jamaican jury, both of which led the Privy Council to rule that it was “quite unarguable” that the appellants’ constitutional rights “have been, were being or are likely to be, contravened.”
Post Script: A jury was selected for the conspiracy trial after potential jurors had been questioned by the judge and counsel. All five persons charged were discharged, and the DPP then entered a nolle prosequi in the murder cases since the evidence presented in the first trial would essentially be the same as that which would be presented in the murder cases.
Comment: This judgment and the outcome of the case suggest that we may never see a Jamaican court finding that adverse pre-trial publicity would render a trial unfair. To say that the Kartel case thus far doesn’t even come close is an understatement of massive proportions.
Usain Bolt in celebration about 1 or 2 seconds after his 100m victory at Beijing Olympics 2008, breaking the world record. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yea, yea I know. Sacrilege. A Jamaican, at a time when Jamaica holds a fistful of 100m world titles, saying she doesn’t like the 100m. But, emm, I don’t. Here’s why.
It’s over too fast! Uh, duh. It’s supposed to be over fast! I know, I know! The thing is, how can you enjoy a race that is over in 10 seconds? If you lean down to pick up the remote you might miss it!
Give me instead the races that allow for build-up of tension, and that showcase grace and strategy, not just an explosive start and raw speed. What’s more beautiful than a 200m athlete who looks to be behind then comes off the curve in front having run a brilliant turn? Well, maybe a group of seasoned and experienced 400m or 800m athletes running a deliberate, intelligent race, resulting in a thrilling and down-to-the-wire finish.
These races are the ones that get my blood pumping. Sure, I’ll be on the black, green and gold bandwagon cheering on our 100m stars, and celebrating when they cross the finish line. But really, I’ll be looking through the schedule for the FUN races! Tell the truth! Don’t you agree with me?
(I won’t even comment on the 60m except to say I wish all our athletes the very best!)
“That reminds me of us being “pothole free by 2003″. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“My comments are not fit for air play…kt”
“They full of crap my light bill no stop go up right no my bill is 10 mash and i’m not doing anthing different the meter reader no stop stay a u neighbour yard and read u meter them need competition”
Those were a few of the comments on the “Beyond the Headlines’” FB page, following JPS’s announcement that the company could lower electricity prices by 40% by 2015 by building a new power plant powered by natural gas.
Yes, there were a few fairly positive comments, such as this:
“I welcome the announcement.sounds good.i see some ifs and buts there,so lets wait on the results!”
However, we also got calls and scores of texts, the majority of which were hostile and disbelieving.
No surprise there.
High electricity prices, a perceived alacrity to cut off customers’ electricity and bad customer service have combined to create a customer base that is extremely hostile to the Jamaica Public Service Company and believes the company is only out to gouge the consumer.
JPS is clearly hoping to get public opinion and advocacy on its side, to push the government to take quick action on the natural gas project.
The problem for them is that their wider customer base hates them. I don’t think I’m overstating it. Mention JPS and calls start to flood in from people who can’t understand their high light bills, and can’t get any answer from JPS other than the directive “You have to pay it.”
Lower prices would help. So would a regulatory authority that the public believes actually stands in the breach for them. But that’s for another time. In the meantime, JPS has a lot of talking to do.
