Moya Thomas loving the news

Who are you trusting to give you the news? With 15 years’ experience in media under her belt; five of those as the head of news at RJR Radio, Moya Thomas has responsibility for the headlines that stream from more radios in Jamaica and on the RJR Web-site, than any other. Thomas was recently promoted as head of news for the RJR group which means dealing with all the news aired on RJR 94 FM, Radio 2, FAME FM and TVJ (Television Jamaica). Her promotion has come as part of the RJR Communications group efforts to merge its broadcast centres into an efficiently managed news service.

From her desk in the editorial department Moya says, “I am very keen on ensuring that there is balance and that what we show on television, and air on radio, should genuinely reflect the spectrum of what happens, and the diversity that there is in Jamaica.”

While she is keen on maintaining balanced news she admits that the availability of resources and sometimes access to information are some of the challenges that affect this aim.

“We do not adequately look at all aspects and all areas of life and so you may see an emphasis on one particular kind of daily activity to the detriment of others…simply because it is easier to access. This is a real challenge that we have; and I am keen on seeing that we do something about it.”

Despite the challenges though Thomas is determined that the RJR group should produce stories that impact society.

Such as the Baby Pansy story that was broken and led by RJR. The communications group had paid for the DNA tests for Pansy Campbell, who had complained that the body of a baby given to her by the Mandeville hospital was not that of her child. Campbell had had her baby – called Baby Pansy in the MayPen hospital but the child had been transferred to Mandeville where it died. The DNA tests later revealed that the wrong body had been given to Campbell. Thomas notes that it was a news decision not to let the story go.

“There was unwillingness with getting the DNA testing done, she recalls, “But RJR said ‘let’s do it’…I have a great team that I am leading. I am pleased when I see them grow as persons; when I hear them give excellent reports; when they come with excellent news and current affairs feature ideas and bring them to fruition. That is very rewarding for me.”

Born in Birmingham, England, to Jamaican parents, Moya says she “came home” when she was six years old. Raised as a middle child within a close-knit Baptist family, and educated in schools run by the Diocese of Jamaica, Moya decided to train as a social worker. Too young to be accepted into the course right after high school, she completed studies for a BSc in Sociology and right afterwards a newspaper advertisement for a television production assistant at JIS TV caught her attention. She landed the position, and the job sparked her interest in media and stories of Jamaica.

Working on Night View supervised by Gary Neita, she says that the experience, “Got me started loving broadcasting…I got a good chance to see parts of Jamaica that I would not have considered prior to that”, she recalls. “Going into caves with bats and that kind of thing. That got me loving the feature side…telling the story creatively; after that it was a halting change to news at JBC.”

After two years at JIS she decided to enter the fast-paced world of news-gathering.

“I wanted something more; a greater challenge. I had a keener interest on things that were happening in Jamaica. You have to think a lot harder about how you are going to approach a story and an issue.” She recalls Anthony Miller, now recognised for his work in The Entertainment Report, and Carole Embden as persons under whom she developed her news reporting craft.

Two stories that she is particularly proud of bringing focus to during her two years at JBC, now TVJ were, “The whole issue of heart disease and the inability to immediately access heart surgery here. The final story I did before I left JBC was about a street boy and somebody slapped him with a hot patty and he was badly burned.”

Two years later Moya felt the need for a change and ventured away from media into Public Relations for eight months, before going on to RJR.

“I felt that I wanted a wholesale change.” she admits. “It was a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed working with Jean Lowrie Chin. It was a different kind of work and she facilitated my getting a grip on it…but I missed mainstream media.”

RJR’s newsroom with Gary Allen at the helm offered what seemed to be a match for Moya’s interests, and it stimulated another interest: politics.

“I covered parliament and I loved that. It puts you in the position where you are seeing the laws being made and the lawmakers at work. It opened my eyes to a lot of things, the kinds of individuals who are making our laws, the kind of deliberations to the way in which it is done. It helped me to see that not always do the lawmakers function in the most responsible manner. It helps you to see why it is some of the laws are passed; simply because there is a majority.”

“I also did ‘Inside Gordon House’ that gave people an insight not only of the facts…it gave people a sense of the feel of Parliament, who was doing what, what were the sort of exchanges taking place. I was hoping that I would take them there, that they would see a little better, gave them a seat in the gallery. I got a lot of feedback from politicians, especially when their names were called.”

Two years of political reporting inspired Moya to read for a Masters Degree in Politics and Sociology at Birbeck College, University of London; this is a part of her instinct to continue learning, which she sees as essential to professional growth.

“I considered Mass Communications, but I decided to do an MSc. in Politics and Sociology.”

The decision not to do a communications degree is based on her interests and she considers that there are several routes to being successful in a career in media.

“When you are young you are not going to know everything, your success is going to be dependent on how much you read thereafter, how much you ask questions, how much you listen. Keep learning. Keep yourself in healthy perspective. You should never get to the place where you feel you are always right.”

Moya worked in customer service at Victoria Mutual Building Society in the UK while she was studying, but always responded to calls from Hugh Crosskill, then at BBC Caribbean service, to cover occasional shifts. She says that this taught her a lot about the Caribbean and kept her in touch with home. Although she was offered a full-time job at BBC, for Moya, her stay in the UK was only to gain education to come back home.

“My family and friends are everything and my parents are a very important part of my life…I am a regular girl with old-fashioned values and that has a bearing on what my personal life shapes up to being.”

Of her current position Moya has very clear goals.

“My thoughts are now occupied with the issue of integrating radio and television. Ensuring that we get the most out of this integration. One big issue is the Access To Information Act that opened so many doors. What it will allow us to do is to get access to information and various files. We will have to determine ‘what are those burning issues that we have wanted answers to all along’.”

Moya would not reveal the ideas that her team is pursuing, but speaks of the rising challengers to RJR news, “We are still very much ahead”.