The beauty about JAMPRESS, established as Jamaica’s national news agency, was that it was charged with providing middle-of-the-road, unbiased coverage and reporting. News releases were disseminated daily to all media houses. It was amazing to watch Veronica “Sweetie” Campbell when she was in the zone at that long table, creating rows and columns of press releases for physical delivery. Regionally, the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) received output from JAMPRESS and stories and news features produced also made their way to Jamaican high commissions, embassies, and consulates.

At the time I joined JAMPRESS in 1994, Ken Chaplin had just been winding down serving as its executive director. And you had to hand it to him. He was a well-known journalist, a stalwart who had begun his journalism career at the age of 17 and who had actually worked to establish JAMPRESS itself. His affinity for journalism was probably rivaled only by his love of sports. A FIFA-awarded football referee, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), in a nice tribute to him, noted that he had also authored a biography of Collie Smith, a West Indies cricketer from the 1950s.

Tribute, because Ken Chaplin passed away on July 30, 2019 at age 89. As a rookie reporter, I had benefited from his wisdom. In fact, he was the one who thought it good sport that I accompany him to an event at the University of the West Indies where, as part of her State visit, Queen Elizabeth II was touring. It was sort of a last-minute idea for us to head to the Mona campus and despite all the effort, we had arrived just a hair-length shy of being able to join the press corps and could only watch the tail-end of her entourage turn a corner. That’s how I almost, yes, almost saw the monarch in person.

In the JAMPRESS newsroom one day, Ken Chaplin famously said: “It’s a science, you know.” The statement was in reference to journalism and the point I think he was making was that while each practitioner would develop his or her own style or flair, there was a fundamental set of principles and practices to adhere to. One of those he espoused was: “Time is of the essence.” So true when you are in the news business. Another nugget of wisdom I gathered from him was to be prepared and thorough, especially since you might not have a convenient chance at follow-up questions after a press conference or interview.

Ken Chaplin, a well-known journalist.

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