Devon Dick
LAST WEEK, the Gleaner's Youthlink stated that "Christmas night found Youthlink at Temple Hall Estate ... though the crowd was unusually scanty, the food was excellent..."
Though the crowd was SCANTY, yet there were two pages of pictures. Can anyone guess what the coverage of Church Christ-mas events was like?
However, The Gleaner should be commended for its coverage of watch night services with good crowds and great music. On January 3, there was one picture only from Montego Bay!
EVENT IGNORED
On New Year's Day, Bishop Delford Davis' prayer meeting at the National Arena had larger attendance than political rallies, but there was no live coverage in mainstream media.
If it were a political rally or a presidential rally, there would have been live coverage.
However, apart from Pastor Al Miller interviewing persons on his paid broadcast on CVM TV, the event was ignored by the electronic mainstream media.
Have the media investigated who is Delford Davis and his ministry and how the plaza owned by his church is meeting the needs of the congregation and the community?
What were the aims and objectives of the gathering?
Big business of New Year's Eve balls and other packages get massive coverage.
On Saturday, CVM carried a story about two men who it is alleged were found with a cow that they could not account for and their names and addresses were given.
SUPER PLUS ISSUE
Also on Saturday, The Gleaner editorial 'A society on edge' dealt with an important subject, but in addressing the Super Plus scandal said, "The other incident involving senior personnel from Super Plus Food Stores and employees over alleged theft of goods, has also triggered strong reaction and protests."
The editorial did not mention that there was an allegation of kidnapping and beating. In addition, the way the story was written, one would believe that the people were protesting over the alleged stealing of goods and not that the strong reaction was in relation to the kid-napping and barbaric and illegal beating.
Thankfully, the same Gleaner had the story on its front page giving it the prominence it deserved and reporting that the Senate saw the crimes as 'heinous'.
The Church gets good coverage at the National Prayer Breakfast apparently because politicians and big business were in attendance, not because of the Church.
So, The Gleaner front page story of the breakfast was headlined that the PM and GG will be leaving.
Last week, Reverend Dr. Renford Maddix was buried in what many claim was the biggest funeral in recent memory and there was scant regard.
He was a man who served God, family, church and country well which was recognised by the people, and not the media.
DIFFERENT VALUE SYSTEM
Yesterday, I was reading the history of Jamaica on the JIS website and there was a sub-title 'Discovery of Jamaica' which mentioned Columbus and the rest of the story mentioned six National Heroes and their contribution, but Rt. Excellent Nanny is conspicuously absent.
The media's value system gives pre-eminence to wealth, power and sensationalism. The focus is on business, politics and entertainment.
It is failing to recognise that all human beings have been endowed with dignity and importance.
Rev Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: The Church in Nation Building"
APOLOGY :
In The Gleaner on January 24, 2006, we published an article by Devon Dick in which the writer referred to a report on CVM Television alleging that Carlos Cafe had been 'peddling prositution.' The article was also published on our website. We understand that the allegations resulted from an incorrect report for which CVM has unreservedly apologised. We also apologise most sincerely to Karl Max-Brown, the owner of Carlos Cafe, and to his family and customers for reporting the untrue allegation, and regret if the publication has caused him any embarrassment.
