Head of the working group for the just-launched Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM), Jenni Campbell has rubbished suggestions that the entity has been formed by disgruntled members of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) and is designed to challenge the body which has represented journalists and media workers in the island since 1943.

There have been whispers in media circles since it was announced that the ACCM was being launched, that it was being set up to offer an alternative to the PAJ which has faced periodic criticisms from journalists that it is failing to address their issues.

But Campbell said she has no issue with the PAJ and does not see the ACCM as its rival.

“Absolutely not. I am a life member of the Press Association of Jamaica and remain a life member of the PAJ as a past president,” Campbell told the Jamaica Observer shortly before the official launch of the ACCM on Sunday.

“This organisation is definitely a church-based organisation, a Christian organisation and our mission is the gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We are not about any other mission but the gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and supporting the voice of the church in the society.

“That is important because we are very concerned about the deterioration of the moral fibre of our society, what is happening in our schools, the murders, the deaths, the breakdown of family life and community life and we are very concerned so believe that the skills of the communicators are to brought together to try and address this,” added Campbell.

She pointed out that members of the PAJ can join ACCM as long as they are Christians and underscored that there is no conflict between the two entities which involve media workers.

According to Campbell, the Church should be the moral compass of the society and as it is now it appears that something is wrong with that compass and it is not working.

“So this organisation has been established to get the compass working again so that the voice of the Church can speak to the issues that affect us and some of the issues that are causing us to deteriorate even further into this abyss,” said Campbell.

In the meantime, Guardian Group executive Eric Hosin used the launch of the ACCM to urge Jamaicans to hunger and thirst after righteous living, as this is the only prescription to stem the country’s spiralling crime figures and the worrying behaviour being displayed by the nation’s children.

Hosin, who is the group head of life, health and pension at Guardian Group, said children are more exposed to anger and bitterness than they are to godly principles today. This has resulted in some, especially boys, believing that violence is the solution when they feel disrespected.

Pointing to Matthew 5 in the scriptures, Hosin said this template should serve as a guide to Jamaicans as the country wades through financial and social crises.

“There is no hungering and thirsting in our nation for righteousness. It is about freedom to do whatever you feel like doing and what you like — and with that type of thing then the devil have a field day,” said Hosin during Sunday’s virtual launch of the ACCM.

The organisation comprises communicators and workers in the secular media and churches who are committed to demonstrating Christian values and standards across all media platforms.

“What is happening in our society is that we need to recognise that all the things that we are trying are just not working, and we [need to] realise that we have to turn to God because nothing [is] working,” the insurance executive declared.

Hosin, a deacon and board member at the Church of the Open Bible, believes children should be exposed to godly teachings from in the womb. He cautioned parents to be mindful of the lessons they are transmitting daily as they “raise” up their children.

“Christians, too, must also ensure that they are not only praying and seeking God’s face, but they are leading exemplary lives that non-Christians would want to emulate.

“As a nation, we need to turn to holiness and righteousness — and that is the problem. We are trying all sorts of different things and when those things don’t work, we try another set of things. But until this nation — at the home level, at the school level, at the work level, at the national level — turns to holiness and righteousness, we will be in this problem,” stated Hosin.

He thanked the members of the security forces for their dedication and commitment in tackling crime.

“You have people who are not thinking about life; no respect for life, but want to make ‘duppy’,” Hosin asserted, before adding, “We have some suicidal jihadists out here in Jamaica who are willing to just put themselves on the line to kill a police or to kill whoever else.”

Hosin charged members of the ACCM to align themselves to, “whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report”, as admonished in Philippians 4 verse 8.

The association, which is now in full operation, has already built solid membership support in Jamaica, across the region, and in the Diaspora.