Letter from Gary Allen, CEO, RJRGLEANER Communications Group, to Mark Golding, President, People's National Party

Dear Mr. Golding:

Threat of Rape against a female RJRGLEANER Media Worker at the PNP Headquarters

I write to you with alarm, disgust, and disbelief about an incident at the headquarters of your party yesterday, where one of our employees was verbally abused and threatened with rape by one of several persons there who were unhappy that the journalist was pursuing a legitimate public-interest story about your party’s selection controversy for one of the seats in St. Catherine.

An audio recording of the despicable incident was captured by Nationwide News Network and has been widely circulated in social media, so I do not need to quote it verbatim.

However, what transpired was disgraceful conduct towards anyone, especially towards a female and particularly towards a media worker. The fact that this has come five days after Jamaica and the World marked World Press Freedom Day is sad and ironic.

The RJRGLEANER Communications Group condemns this behavior and expects a full and clear repudiation of those involved, an apology to our staff and all media workers who were verbally abused at the facility yesterday and a commitment to providing an acceptable environment for media workers to report on matters of public interest surrounding your party.

For a journalist to be repeatedly saying on the compound of your party that she feels attacked and abused is as disappointing as it is embarrassing.

Further, in 2023, for a member of the PNP’s Executive to be chastising media workers for the colour clothes they wore to work that day and therefore to their assignment is shocking. Such tribal vestige is to be abandoned by any serious person or organization as nonsensical. A journalist is to be judged on the quality of their work, not the daft sense of value believed to be brought to the story that they present while wearing a particular colour item of clothing.

We urge a swift and appropriate response.

Yours truly, RJRGLEANER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

Gary Allen

Chief Executive Officer