Butch Stewart is a big name here in Jamaica. He owns the Sandals chain of resorts, a large automotive dealership and one of the two main newspapers, the Jamaica Observer. To me, it is unclear how he is perceived on the island. He is a white Jamaican and wealthy, of course. From what I have heard and observed, people are grateful for the jobs the resorts provide, but they are uneasy with where the money flows, i.e. back to Stewart. He has also come under fire for the sensational nature of the Observer’s coverage of horrific events like child rapes and murders. The Observer has also been accused of having a homophobic agenda. As a journalist, I agree that the Observer’s coverage is often sensational, gratuitous and can be homophobic. This, of course, is inexcusable, but I must admit the uncomfortable fact that at the same time, there is some good quality, first-hand reporting happening.

It has been interesting for me to observe how the reporters get the stories. There seems to be a lot more on-the-ground collection of information. I think this happens for two reasons: one is that information here in Jamaica, in general, is not adequately recorded and stored, so journalists must actually pick up the phone, visit a site or event, retrieve a document themselves or interview people much more frequently than North American journalists, who can Google everything and find all the documents and data they require online. Also, as a byproduct of this situation, the journalism profession is about five to ten years behind, in my estimation, when it comes to social media and the sharing of information. The second reason, which is speculation on my part, is that Jamaica has a history of transmitting information orally, as opposed to transmission via the written word. So reporters might naturally be more inclined to get out there and seek the story themselves, as opposed to working the phones at a desk all day. I find the Observer’s strength is this firsthand accounting of events.

Another speculation on my part is that it appears Stewart could be subsidizing the Observer’s costs; it is a thick newspaper with looong stories. This is a rarity in today’s news environment. Although print advertising seems to be strong here in Jamaica, so maybe the Observer isn’t a money loser for Stewart. In any case, I am now going to come back to the whole point of this venture into puzzling over Jamaica’s news environment: it must be nice to have your own newspaper so that you can have flattering features written about yourself. Check out this page 3 story on Butch Stewart. This would never fly in Canada or the U.S.