CVM Television has denied that it plans to carry a segment of its newscast in Jamaican dialect and said that yesterday's Observer story on the issue was misleading.

In a letter addressed to the editor, vice president of broadcast services, Jennifer Grant, said the station "has no plans to broadcast any of its nightly newscasts in patois".

She said, however, that "a sampling of news presented in patois" will be part of a three-part series looking at the role of media in communication and the use of patois in education.
Janella Precius, the CVM journalist who is spearheading the initiative, told the Observer Wednesday that the station would be experimenting with a section of the newscast in patois.

"It's an experiment," Precius had said. She pointed to the challenges of appropriate translation, the adaptability of news anchors and the reluctance of the Jamaican public to embrace the use of patois in an otherwise formal domain.

"This week we're working on whether Jamaicans are ready to accept patois and whether the legislative framework to formalise it is in place," she added.

The Observer story also quoted CVM news manager Irvin Forbes as saying: "I expect [the reaction] will be mixed. As is always the case, some people will be reluctant to embrace patois, others will find it innovative but at least we will continue to generate some debate on the issue."

Neither Precius nor Forbes spoke of a series of topics related to Jamaican creole. However, in her letter yesterday, Grant made clear that the series, set to begin on Monday, June 30 "will explore the issue of whether the country is ready to embrace Jamaican Creole as an official language".

"The three-part series will look at the role of media in communication, the use of patois in our education system and it will include a sampling of news presented in patois," said Grant.

She also said that the statements attributed to Precius and Forbes "related specifically to this series and do not reflect any policy change on the part of the station".

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