Davis recommends pension scheme for media workers

WESTERN BUREAU:

Homer Davis, minister of state in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in the Office of the Prime Minister, is recommending that media workers should have a pension scheme put in place in order to support them after retirement.

Speaking last Wednesday evening during a media lyme at the Office of the Prime Minister West in Montego Bay, Davis drew comparison to the Tourism Workers Pension Scheme, designed to benefit that industry’s workers between the ages of 18-59 years, which took effect in January 2020.

“If you do not have a pension plan, this is something that you should do, because Minister (Edmund) Bartlett worked very hard to establish the Tourism Workers Pension Plan. Members of the media, some of whom have given close to 50 years of service, will get recognition here and there, but there should be a plan so that when you go into retirement, something will be flowing back to you,” said Davis.

“This is something that probably you could start thinking about. It is very important, because your job is a very important job and a difficult job, and you have to deliver to be paid,” Davis added. “You have to go out there and you do your research, you do your investigations, you submit your articles, and you submit your photographs.”

Media workers in Jamaica are currently represented by the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), which was formed in 1943 and was the first of its kind in the Commonwealth Caribbean. This year’s staging of the PAJ’s week-long series of events, in celebration of National Journalism Week, will commence on Sunday, January 29, under the theme ‘A free press for a better Jamaica.’

MINDFUL

Speaking further on the need for the work of journalists in Jamaica, Davis noted that politicians must be mindful of how they respond during media interviews.

“The media, to us politicians, is like cricket. As the politician, you have to prepare to bat, but you cannot just swing your bat, because you will get bowled, and the worst thing that can happen to you is that you get bowled,” said Davis.

“But you must be able to keep off aggressive bowlers, and the media has some really aggressive bowlers. When they are most aggressive is when their demeanour is extremely calm, and then they push one on you, and you give a wrong answer. You might give an honest answer, but tomorrow morning there is the headline,” Davis added.

Meanwhile, in a brief address to the lyme’s attendees, veteran journalist and the PAJ’s second vice-president, Lloyd B. Smith, said that there should be a closer camaraderie among journalists from different media houses than that which currently exists.

“We often seem to be operating in silos and not relating to each other. Many years ago, we could easily pick up our phone and call a colleague and say, ‘What you have, what you coming up with tomorrow? Can I get a piece of it? I will change it up.’ You cannot do that now, as everybody holds on to what they have,” said Smith, who is also the chief executive officer of Montego Bay’s Western Mirror.

“This sort of fierce competition has to some extent divided us rather than united us. I would like to see the day before I ride off into the sunset, that some level of fraternity returns to the media, and that we will not only see each other when we are invited to events like this,” Smith added.