JIS Urged to Continue Highlighting Country’s Positives

Members of staff of the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) have been urged to continue to highlight the positives and to showcase what is good in Jamaica.

This advice came from Motivational Speaker, Dr. Nsombi Jaja, while addressing employees at a staff meeting session held on September 18, at the agency’s head office in Kingston.

The special meeting, attended by the Honorary Consul of Botswana, Dr. Henley Morgan, was held to welcome a visiting five-member delegation from Botswana.

The delegation, led by Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of State President, Mogomotsi Kaboeamodimo, who is responsible for information and broadcasting services, arrived in the island on Tuesday, September 17, for a communication benchmarking visit.

Other members of the delegation are: Manager, Radio, Keitirile Mathapi; Director, Information Services Department, Russ Molosiwa; Managing Editor, Botswana Daily News (Information Services Department) Charmaine Revaka; and  Chief Information Officer,  Daphne Motswakae, who has responsibility for reporters in districts and the sub-editing desk.

Dr. Jaja lauded the JIS for highlighting positive stories, stating that significant good is happening in Jamaica compared to the negatives.

“You cannot focus on the negatives all the time and that now becomes what we pay attention to. You cannot build a country like that; you have to feel good about the country in which you live, you have to see the positive things in the country, you have to have hope on a day-to-day basis in order for you to be able to give your best wherever you are,” she stated.

“People will start seeing Jamaica through a different set of lens because you have helped Jamaica to clean the lens that they are looking at this country through and to see the wonderful blessings that God has blessed us in Jamaica,” Dr. Jaja added.

Mr. Kaboeamodimo, in his remarks, said his delegation is benchmarking with the JIS because of the local agency’s long history of public education and news reporting.

He noted that his country has a similar office called Information Services, which is responsible for information and broadcasting in Botswana.

“We have come a long way since our Independence, being responsible for information functions of Government. We like to see ourselves as connecting Government with every citizen every day in the country,” he said.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary, who said he was inspired by the motivational talk and prayers, said his team would like to know “how you are able to handle the information services of government, the manner in which you do it, whether by radio or whatever else you do.”

Additionally, he said, the team will be learning about the structure and processes of the agency and how it relates to persons outside Government.

Other speakers at the meeting were Chief Executive Officer of the JIS, Donna-Marie Rowe; Dr. Morgan; Director of Human Resources, JIS, Bernita Locke; and Mr. Molosiwa.