Dr. Marjan de Bruin
IT IS 8:30 IN the morning, and already darkly blonde, blue-eyed Dr. Marjan de Bruin, is way ahead of the average faculty member at the University of the West Indies. She is awake, alert and already one hour into the day's work.
The Nederlander journalist, the woman who was the first female to be appointed as director of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC), says that her job can extend beyond 18 hours on some days.
But, today, with examinations over and a summer sabbatical in sight, she is more relaxed. The approaching holidays, however, are no reason to come to work one hour later than usual.
Discussing with Outlook the future of the organisation which she heads, over coffee, she dives into her favourite topics:reporting on AIDS, the environment, the dynamics of the Jamaican newsroom, the quality and depth of reportage and the strange effect that commercialisation seems to have on the product emerging as news.
As head of the school of communication, Dr. de Bruin is well placed to discuss the issues. She does so incisively and with passion.
The communications specialist has been with CARIMAC for 18 years.
Before coming to Jamaica, she was editor of a Dutch weekly, this after having completed her doctoral degree in social psychology at the University of Amsterdam, and after receiving a degree at the School of Social Work.
We asked the Nordic de Bruin about the eclectic mix which appears to be her career path.
Ever the pragmatist, the communicator does not pause before saying that there is always the matter of opportunities which are too good to be refused.
"Somebody offered me a job in media. I was 20. The job was well paid and it seemed an opportunity to experience many other worlds."
The common thread between journalism, therapy and social work, she said, is a deep interest in people. "With journalism, you also need to be curious and interested in other people. You need to like to work with people. It also involved investigation, analysis and research. These are the things I like."
When Dr. de Bruin was offered the chance to describe the group process in psychotherapy this was also a natural step in career development. She became, for a while, a group and family psychotherapist.
The transfer to Jamaica came after meeting Professor Aggrey Brown, then head of CARIMAC, at a conference in India in the early 1980s. He told her that there was a vacancy at CARIMAC and asked her if she would be interested in it.
Although Dr. de Bruin was living what she calls "a pleasant life" in the Netherlands, she answered "why not?"
The answer is typical of the woman who says she recognises opportunities and is never lazy in accepting them.
She came to Jamaica and she loved it. Dr. de Bruin is now married to well known journalist John Maxwell, sharing her life with him and several god-children who have come to believe that her home is theirs too.
The years have not passed insignificantly.
At work, among the projects for which she has been responsible and for which she has gained recognition are studies on health journalism, combined with workshops and seminars designed to improve the quality of media coverage.
Projects
She has been responsible for several projects to improve reporting, especially in the area of environmental reporting and coverage of HIV/AIDS.
Marjan de Bruin is also an active member of the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). She is on the Editorial Board of Feminist Media Studies.
Now, two years into her job as director, she grapples with her biggest challenge, yet.
Dr. de Bruin is still not sure that this will be the decade when CARIMAC develops as it should.
The communicator, herself, has been described as an important actor in the institute's outreach programmes. As department head, she attracted more than US$1 million in funds for these activities and research.
She told Outlook, "You can always get funding in your activities, but what of the infrastructural development needed?"
CARIMAC has been using the same building and the same permanent staff of six since 1974, although the demand for its services have multiplied many times over.
She comments that, in 2002, "Our plans were to continue to develop CARIMAC into a school of communication. In 1974, we started as an institution focused on journalism with a one-year diploma programme. We expanded by taking on a degree in journalism.
"In the last decade, the focus has slowly changed with the addition of Social Marketing, Public Relations and Multimedia. Two master's programmes have also been added."
For all of this there is an enormous market demand.
She is chagrined, however, that every year, CARIMAC turns away more than 80 per cent of its applicants, simply because "there is no space to put them."
She yearns for something dramatic to happen.
Though she lives in a country where the word "cutbacks" are uttered in every other paragraph of public dialogue, she is still hopeful.
She will be ready when opportunity knocks.
