Public Opinion, the electronic periodical launched by distinguished Jamaican attorney Walter Scott, QC, last year, marked its first anniversary on Saturday, March 17, and the current edition, uploaded at 12:00 last night, has a number of columns marking the occasion.

The fortnightly publication, which Scott had promised would bring thought leadership to the country, has maintained readership with hard-hitting, factual, engaging commentaries on social, economic, political, religious, and sporting issues from an impressive range of contributors, including retired businessman and political and social commentator James Moss-Solomon; trade unionist Danny Roberts; former Contractor General Greg Christie; Alexander Scott; Olive Nelson, Dr Paul Wright, and one commentator who writes under the nom de plume The Laird.

Veteran journalist Cliff Hughes and one of his protégés, Abka Fitz-Henley, also contributed to the publication in the early weeks.

“Readership has grown. IP addresses for the 36,872 unique visitors over the past 365 days indicate that readers reside mainly in the USA and in Jamaica. It is not far-fetched to assume that readers from the USA are significantly from our diaspora family,” General Manager Dorothy White told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

White also said that the articles published by Public Opinion have been used by some University of Technology, Jamaica students as research material for at least one of their courses.

In the current edition, The Laird looks at the vast economic possibilities of entertainment tourism; Moss-Solomon encourages Jamaicans to write on topical issues and current events using Public Opinion; the horse racing expert, who uses the pen name The Terrible Tout, explains how he is able to confidently assess daily track variants — an anniversary gift to his readers; while another writer, who uses the byline Yahoo, looks at the state of West Indies cricket.

Last year’s launch of the online publication was a culmination of months of detailed research and planning by Scott, who acquired the name which stood on the masthead of the respected tabloid-sized newspaper founded in the 1930s, but which is no longer in publication.

That point was highlighted by Managing Director Astrid Scott-Beckford in her address to the launch.

“On February 20, 1937, a weekly publication titled Public Opinion became widely acclaimed as a premier source of thought-provoking and progressive commentary on the issues of the day. No topical stone was left unturned with writers expressing both liberal and conservative views,” she said.

“Today, we present to you another Public Opinion with the same noble aim. Our commentary strives to be educational, insightful, piercing, and always up to date. We made sure to select the creme de la creme for our contributor base,” Scott-Beckford added.