THE General Manager of Television Jamaica (TVJ) Kay Osborne has played an instrumental role in placing local programming front and centre in the country’s leading television station’s offerings.

Added to this notable accomplishment has been her ability to infuse TVJ with a greater degree of profes-sionalism. She regarded it as imperative that Jamaicans saw themselves on screen and that programming should be more reflective of the local culture and society. To this end she has gathered a team of the best industry professionals with an emphasis placed on quality. One only has to take a look at shows like Rising Stars, The Contender and Hidden Treasures to see the progress TVJ has made over the years. Today it holds lead position with 36 per cent of the market despite the proliferation of cable channels in Jamaica.

Tough societal issues

Last week, Osborne was thrown into an imbroglio surrounding a public service announcement (PSA) addressing the issue of homosexuality in Jamaica.

The PSA was to be presented by Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG). Although this writer has not seen the PSA, it is widely said that it showed a former Miss Jamaica, Christine Shaw, expressing love for her gay brother and encouraging Jamaicans to show love and embrace their family members and friends despite their sexual persuasion. This message is one of tolerance and should highlight the better side of human nature, but it was felt that it ran contrary to public sentiments, since Jamaica has always displayed an abhorrence of homosexuality.

Osborne acknowledged that the culture as it currently prevails does not support homosexuality and indicated that this was a reason behind TVJ’s decision not to broadcast the PSA.

“After looking at all the issues, RJR, our parent company, decided against it. The group decided it had to respect and value the attitudes and values of our society and that the attitudes and values of our society, at this time, could not support the broadcast of a prime time advertising campaign, ” said Osborne.

The role of television, indeed media is not to simply serve up or reflect the culture and mainstream attitudes as it currently stands. It must also service the counter-culture and different lifestyles and attitudes. It should provide a platform for the entire gamut of human existence but in a way that is not offensive. It is hard to reconcile deciding not to go with a humane sentiment of tolerance and love yet constantly feed the country a diet of crime and unabashed sexuality. Television at its best should be a cultural barometer which is preferable to being an arbiter.

Those who stand outside our culture often view it with a lens made more accurate by distance and perspective. Looking at Jamaican television, it isn’t too hard to tell that this is a country at odds with itself. There is always the challenge of balancing the cultural and creative imperatives that drive the station against its commercial needs. The PSA could have been aired in a manner that was not too offensive or graphic in detail, but at the same time conveying the message of love and tolerance.

At the core of understanding how television affects society is the relationship between television and consumerism. Television allows people to consume images that otherwise most people would not have access to in the course of a typical life.

According to Yusuf Al-Khabbaz: “The most commonly consumed images on television are those of sex and death. People are fascinated by sex and death which in and of themselves are not necessarily bad but, when turned into spectacles and commodities, can create pathological relationships that result in a sort of television-induced numbness.”

Osborne took a sanguine approach on this contentious PSA issue and one that should be greatly considered by all the country’s leading media bosses. Looking beyond the strong sentiments and anti-gay rhetoric, she said:

“Good, moral and ethical Jamaicans will understand that our obligation is to move forward as a country, towards becoming a more just society. In my view, it is time for informed conversation about intolerance and bigotry, about humanity and tolerance; a conversation about the kind of society that we live in and the kind of society that we want to live in.”

TVJ’s General Manager has had considerable international experience and has worked in a managerial capacity for Fortune 500 companies. She sees an increase in media practitioners going into media ownership and says it is incredibly difficult to work in front of and behind the microphone at the same time, particularly in a contracting economy with a shrinking advertising dollar.

“Because of the environment we operate in with a virtual total dependence on the local business community, it is important to develop the industry in a way that exporting becomes a viable option.

With the economy as it is, all the more reason to now re-orient the thinking of policymakers to see growth coming from outside of Jamaica. There is an interest in our content outside of Jamaica and we need to quickly recognise this,” said Osborne.

She is disturbed by the idea of the local advertising dollar being redirected to foreign cable channels and sees this as sounding the death knell of the local industry which now more than ever needs top-class production and quality local programming.

When she was putting together a team at TVJ she noted that most of them had professional experience outside of Jamaica. And they now head the major departments in the company and help develop policy and strategy.

Telegenics and speaking skills

On making a good on-air television professional Osborne says: “Telegenics, telegenics telegenics. Some people have that X factor in front of a camera. Right now I am looking through a number of audition tapes as we are currently recruiting people, and occasionally there is one person who just has it, there is a love affair that happens between the camera and that person and you just know that the audience is going to pick up on it. That is telegenics, but the person must have the appropriate skills.

“One of the problems we have in Jamaica with the breakdown in reading, writing, comprehension and basic speaking skills is that many people aspiring to a career in on-air television have skills in one area and deficiencies in others. There are presenters with speech defects which have to be corrected, but habits are difficult to break. I can’t emphasise enough that it is important to be able to speak appropriately but you must also have the complete package and that is difficult to find in Jamaica right now.”

Does one need a background in media to be a media boss?

On the media landscape there are a number of bosses who do not have a background in the industry. Unlike the likes of a Gary Allen and Garfield Grandison, who have been forged in the business, there are those who come to it as leaders yet are media novices. Osborne does not see this as a liability, rather she sees a deficit of leadership.

“It’s not just in media but throughout the country there is a lack of leadership. We need people who are trained to develop and execute strategically. This is what is needed if we are to get out of our current predicament as a country. We need skilled leaders regardless of where they come from. They must demonstrate that they are able to manage a company, an industry or a government portfolio, for that matter. It has to be done in a way that benefits stockholders and helps move Jamaica to become a player in the world economy.

“Yes, you need people who know media to be in the industry, but you don’t necessarily need a patty maker to run the patty shop. More importantly, you need professionals who understand strategy and leadership to run the patty shop,” declared the senior television executive.

Osborne has demonstrated time and time again the ability to pick winners. Mark Kenny had an idea for a boxing show and touted it to many people as he searched for a backer. There were no takers. Osborne saw something and The Contender has become the undoubted television hit of the year.

What did she see that others couldn’t?

“Well, Mark (Kenny) is a fantastic producer. I had worked with him before and together we make a good team. We respect what the other person brings and allow each other to influence what the other person does. So when he comes to me with an idea, by the time we put our heads together,it becomes a bigger idea or we decide that it cannot work.

“What did I see? Well, before I left Jamaica, boxing was big in this country. When Mark came up with the idea , I did some investigation and it became very clear that people were genuinely interested in boxing and that the associations were doing great tactical work throughout the country. However, there was no vehicle to make it exciting and appealing to viewers. I felt with the appropriate production values and the strategy around it, together with the funding and placing it during prime time, we could make it happen. At TVJ we wanted to be an equity partner on this project.

“An appealing factor for me is that boxing has legs overseas. With this show you can have a Jamaican boxer taking on a Cuban boxer and the show being broadcast in that country. Then a Trinidadian boxer could go toe to toe with a Mexican and the supporters would get behind their countrymen. You could create a captive audience on the back of national pride and of course there is that export component we talked about.”

What next?

Kay Osborne began her career in television as a continuity announcer. Her first degree (in Communications) is from one of the best communication schools in the United States, Northwestern University.

So after seven years as a senior executive at TVJ, what would she like to do next?

“I am interested in initiatives that help to build Jamaica but not necessarily in the media. I am determined to engage on issues that interface with the global economy, particularly those that are meaningful for young people.”

Osborne would make an excellent executive producer on a show that charts the development of Jamaica since Independence and where the country should be heading beyond its fiftieth birthday. That would go some way in cementing her legacy, not to mention such a show would have export potential.

Today there are many media platforms in operations , some say too many for a country of just 2.5 million people with an income per capita of around US$6,000. Can they all survive?

“Most radio stations in Jamaica are not viable. There is an oversupply of advertising inventory yet there is an undersupply of high quality inventory like TVJ produces and so there has to be a shakeout in my view, simply because the industry cannot support all the players currently.

“If local advertising is allowed to go to the 200 foreign cable channels to help support the production of foreign material for distribution in Jamaica, it potentially destroys fledgling local production. There is no doubt that this will harm print, radio and local cable television. The cost of that advertisement will be comparable to a quarter-page ad in the newspaper or the cost of a radio advertisement. It will put our local professionals out of a job. The people whose jobs will be secure are those producing that material for the foreign cable channels and that person is likely to come from somewhere like Houston. Now that is a threatening scenario.”

Osborne believes it is not just about having a media platform but more about quality and professionalism.

“I don’t pay too much attention to radio but as far as I understand it, many radio stations in Jamaica have similar output with very little to differentiate them. Advertisers are looking for high quality standards and in many instances that is lacking in Jamaica, That is why TVJ goes for high production values and placing local programming on prime time.”