Yvonne Senior, advertising manager at The Gleaner Company Ltd., shows off the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica's (AAAJ) Media of the Year Award. The Gleaner received the award, for the seventh year in a row, during yesterday's AAAJ Awards luncheon, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer The GLEANER COMPANY Limited yesterday continued its winning streak, taking the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica's (AAAJ) Media of the Year Award for the seventh year in a row.
A strong contingent of Gleaner employees cheered as the trophy was presented to Advertising Manager, Miss Yvonne Senior, at the AAAJ Media of the Year Awards luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston.
The Gleaner also received a certificate of appreciation and won four of seven certificates of merit awarded to advertising executives. These went to accounts executives Althea Gayle and Sandra James, deputy advertising manager Nordia Craig and the advertising manager, Miss Senior.
Special mention awards also went to The Gleaner's accounts executives Maxine McTaggert and Suzette Brown and operations co-ordinator in the Prepress Department, Errent Murray.
The AAAJ also presented a special award to Christopher Roberts, a 30-year veteran professional, who serves as The Gleaner's Financial Manager and a director at the company. He was credited for contributions to the development of media in Jamaica by working tirelessly to foster a
strong and amicable relationship between the Media Association of Jamaica, where he was a director, and the AAAJ.
The Jamaica Observer took second place and its chairman, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, was named as Media Personality of the Year. In third place was Television Jamaica Limited (TVJ).
Arnold Foote, President of the AAAJ, used his moment at the podium to highlight the seriousness of the advertising profession and said that while there was little or no widescale research on the impact of advertising locally on profitability and related issues such as job creation, no one could dispute its powerful impact as a "serious contributor to investment and profit..."
Guest speaker and Minister of Information, Burchell White-man, said that the Government was now thinking about regulation and a licensing regime for practitioners in the advertising industry.
"While it is true that the legislative programme for the current year is already very crowded, I have restarted the process to provide legislation and the appropriate regulations for the advertising industry," said the Information Minister. "Transparency and the clear statement of qualifications and standards ...will be fundamental elements of the system which is developed."
He said that there would be dialogue with members of the industry in the development of the proposed legislation.
"If we are to serve our country and its people well, if we are going to make our mark on the global community, we have to be professional in our approach and ensure that the standards by which we operate are rooted in our own local commitment to excellence and in conformity with international benchmarks," said Mr. Whiteman.
He commended the AAAJ for its recently-launched Effectiveness Awards programme, stating that advertising supports the free market system. Said Mr. Whiteman: "It is equally clear that you have set your sights, and I am sure the media have too, on becoming more competitive in the global economy. Jamaicans have never been known to let our geographical size or our particular state of development become barriers to our playing an important role on the world stage."
