Media association relaunched as BARJAM

THE Barbados Association of Journalist (BAJ) has been renamed the Barbados Association of Journalists and Media Workers (BARJAM).

The name change came on Sunday during a special general meeting at the headquarters of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), minutes after veteran journalist Emanuel Joseph, being voted in as the new President.

Managing editor of the Nation Publishing Company Amanda Lynch-Foster was elected to be the Vice President, while Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reporter Ryan Broome is the General Secretary, and Barbados Today’s senior reporter Marlon Madden assumed the post of Treasurer. CBC sports reporter Ann-Marie Burke, holds the position as public relations officer.

CBC’s Lisa Lorde and Anthony Admiral Nelson have been elected to be floor members, in addition to Motoring News Editor Trevor Thorpe.

Delivering remarks at the general meeting which also had an online audience via the Association’s Facebook page, Joseph, a senior reporter and news producer at Barbados Today, indicated that it has not always been an easy road for the organisation which has not always been active.

However, he stressed that members must show those who do not take the organisation seriously, that “we are not making sport”.

“This time, this is the real deal, there are a lot of things that we are facing. Politics, politicians, business people, and the silly season is on, so you know that we are going to be facing pressure, and our integrity is at stake. The thing about it is that people don’t take us seriously when they don’t want to take us seriously.”

“We are like footballs, we are convenient. When they want a PR done, we are the most important people in the world, but outside of that. . .We have to lift our game and show that we are really serious media people, and it is not just about journalists,” Joseph said, as he delivered his first speech to BARJAM members. (AH)