JDC says it alone decides which journalists sit on political debate panel

 

Amid controversy over who should be among the panelists for the upcoming election debates, the Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC) is stamping its authority, stressing that it alone decides which journalists sit on the debate panel. 

 

This comes after a now-deleted Jamaica Observer article, which reportedly had aspects of the discussions between the two main political parties, exposed the names of journalists who would potentially participate in the debates and their supposed political leanings. 

 

The JDC, which faced a raft of questions on Tuesday morning during a press conference, contended that it has the final decision regardless of the JLP and PNP's preferences.

 

JDC Chairman Brian Schmidt sought to explain the process of selection for journalists, as well as changes to the debate format.

 

"We look on the journalists that are out there, and we look based on the themes of what we're doing for the debates, like social issues, the economy and so on. We try and look on the talent that is available, and then we create a pool, and we say, okay, based on this poll, there are people who are suitable and could handle very well the particular debates, and from that pool, we make a determination of the people who we will actually use. For the first time, we have dropped the opening statements in the debates to facilitate more questions and answers," he explained.

 

Following the publication, the PNP and the JLP issued statements revealing the names of the journalists, with whom they were comfortable participating in the debates, and those to whom they objected. 

 

The JDC, as well as the Press Association of Jamaica, have expressed concerns about the implications of the releases and how they could affect press freedom, as well as the integrity of the debates. 

 

Meanwhile the two main political parties continued to hurl accusations over who is to be blamed for naming journalists and their apparent affiliations. 

 

JLP representative Delroy Williams said, despite the party's objections concerning the use of some journalists, it remained open to debating on issues of national interest.

 

"We had an objection, but we said our objection was soft, that we had reasons for our objection, but that any choice the Debates Commissions made, that we would accept. The People's National Party had a hard objection. I mean, I don't want to go further into it, lest I release private conversations within the debate commission setting. You have to write the object, it's part of the process," he outlined. 

 

Taking the defence, PNP debate coordinator for the JDC, Colin Campbell, argued that the opposition did not err in its actions.

 

"We thought it necessary to explain the position of the People's National Party. We are not ashamed of our objections, we stated our reasons for the objections. We objected to three people, the JLP objected to four. My objections were independent of the JLP objections. The JLP attempted to get us to negotiate settling between the list. I categorically said no," Mr. Campbell asserted. 

 

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Jamaica Debates Commission, Brian Schmidt, has revealed the names of participating journalists in the upcoming debates.

 

On social issues, they are Janella Precius of TVJ News, who will act as moderator; Romardo Lyons of TVJ News, who will be a questioner; as well as Natalie Campbell from Irie FM News, who will also act as a questioner. 

 

For the economy debate, George Davis will act as moderator, while Dashan Hendricks from the Jamaica Observer and Andrea Chisholm from TVJ News will act as questioners. 

 

On the leadership debate, Archibald Gordon will act as moderator, while Dionne Jackson Miller from a TVJ and Radio Jamaica as well as Giovanni Dennis from CVM News, who will also act as questioners.

 

Amoy Harriott from CVM News will act as the social media moderator for each debate.

 

The Jamaica Observer article had included information that both parties raised objections to the participation of some journalists from the RJRGLEANER Communications Group and Nationwide News.

 

When quizzed about the exclusion of journalists, exclusively based at Nationwide News Network from the final list, Mr. Schmidt maintained that the JDC is a decider in chief and has done so effectively.

 

"The JDC retains its right to choose the moderators and journalists that it wants to use. What we look on is who we believe are the best fit per debate, and this has always been the process. Since you asked about a particular media house, there are times when there's a stronger representation and there are other times when there's a lesser representation. So I don't think it is necessarily fair to try and take a snapshot at one time to try and make a judgement on the work that the JDC has done for over 23 years."

 

The JDC said the opening statements have been removed to facilitate a longer question and answer segment.