I suspect that because in mainstream media we have some amount of contempt for spin, when we have to do it ourselves, it comes across as awkward. That may explain why the announcement of the yanking of Nationwide Radio from RJR AM sounded so contrived.

Everyone was being polite in telling us how wonderful the relationship between the two media entities was and how professional and amicable everyone was. So what explains the pulling of the plug only six minutes after ‘Nationwide at Five’, the station’s flagship programme, had started? Was there no notice period? If there was, did someone ignore it? Was there no place for negotiation? And a million more questions. It’s always difficult when media have to behave like the other entities which we delight in holding to book.

If the announcers could not bring themselves to bare the truth of the situation, then just make the announcement. Say it is no longer financially viable to continue and be done with it. No shame in that. In my mind, the AM arrangement between Nationwide and RJR went much longer than I had expected. In the first place, quite beside the outmoded technology, the robustness of the competition between the two in the five pm to seven pm slot was untenable and unsustainable. And I didn’t think RJR could make enough money from the AM fees to offset that.

But much beyond our awkwardness with handling spin, there is commendability in the fact that neither Nationwide nor RJR wanted to ‘nasty up’ the other. One senses a mutual respect between two journalists turned CEOs in Cliff Hughes and Gary Allen. I like that. Media people are not often kind to each other.It is intriguing to me to watch journalists making the transition from media to business and commerce. In the case of Cliff, of course, the journey is far more intense and real. He is creating something from scratch. Allen has inherited the RJR empire. But he must now steer the ship in extremely choppy seas. And he must secretly want to go where his predecessors did not. In the interim, I am missing ‘Nationwide Radio’, especially ‘This Morning’ with Emily Crooks and Naomi Francis; ‘Nationwide at Five’; ‘Ity and Fancy Cat’ and ‘Super J’, which are favourites of mine. I listened a lot from my bed or in the car. Online is not the same. Please hurry back, guys.

Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism

This award is meant to recognise independent and professional reporting that sheds new light on controversial issues. Established in 2002, the contest awards two US$5,000 prizes each year, one to a local reporter in a developing country or nation in transition, and the other to a freelance journalist covering international news. The stories can focus on conflict, human rights concerns, cross-border issues, or any other issue of controversy in a particular country or region.

Deadline: June 22, 2009. For more details visit:www.comminit.com/en/node/268740

WACC Photo Competition 2009 – Portraying Gender

Photographers are invited to submit photos on the theme “portraying gender’ that challenge conventional understandings of ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’: photos that portray women or men in ways that offer new perceptions about their roles and responsibilities, as well as photos that break the mould of the male-female ‘divide’.

The competition is open to men, women, and children, of all ages and from all countries. Amateurs and professionals are welcome to submit photos that: show women taking leadership and working in roles in public that were previously thought to be the sole domain of men; show men taking on nurturing or caring roles in private that were previously thought to be the sole domain of women; show women or men in a way that challenges cultural understandings of their “place” in society; or show women and men on an equal footing.

Deadline: May 1, 2009. For more details visit:

www.comminit.com/en/node/267603

Send comments to The Spike at desal@cwjamaica.com

Desmond Allen, aka The Spike, a 35-year veteran of journalism, is a former president of the Press Association of Jamaica and founding general secretary of the regional Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM).