New Information Minister Meets JIS Team (JIS)

Recently appointed Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with Responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, is commending the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) for maintaining its reputation as the lead agency for credible government information for more than 50 years.

“I want to thank you for the work that you have been doing over the years. JIS is a very important part of the government information system. A lot of people both inside and outside of government depend on the Jamaica Information Service for information about what the Government is doing,” he said.

Minister Morgan was addressing the JIS team for the first time since being assigned the position, in a meeting held at JIS Television headquarters and virtually, on Friday (January 28).

Noting that the Agency is critical to the government communications network, he said the Agency’s reputation for providing consistently credible information plays an important role in democracy.

Going forward, Minister Morgan said greater integration and modernisation of the Government’s communications infrastructure, particularly the increased use of social media, will be a critical area of focus.

“There is a plan to improve JIS and the whole government ecosystem… . The vision of government communications is to be strong, to be credible, to be factual, to be consistent, and to be amplified. It means that we are going to have to evolve our systems,” he said.

Outlining several objectives to be met over the next five years, Minister Morgan urged greater collaboration among government media assets.

He also challenged the Agency to play a bigger role in combatting misinformation on social issues, including vaccine hesitancy, crime, corruption and the economy by increasing the dissemination of correct information to the public.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the JIS, Donna-Marie Rowe, who warmly welcomed the Minister, pledged the JIS team’s continued commitment to producing quality content for public information.

“We will look at our team of reporters and public relations officers to ensure that we present the facts,” she said.

Minister Morgan also met with the Agency’s executive leadership to discuss in detail priority areas of focus.

JIS is an Executive Agency providing communication services to all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government.

The Minister’s visit is one of several planned to engage with communication units across the MDAs, with a view to strengthening the Government’s communication systems.