Barry Chevannes, UWI professor of social anthropology. - Photos by Ricardo makyn/Staff photographer

That The Gleaner has been a leader in corporate social responsibility in Jamaica is well known, especially since its role in the formation of Peace and Love in Society (PALS). But that it dared to invite a takeover of its editorial staff, if only for one day, by a group of activists and dreamers was a radical if not revolutionary departure, hardly expected from a newspaper couple decades short of 200 years old, with such a long history of being part of the white, slavery, colonial and post-colonial establishments.

But I found the gesture revolutionary in another sense. Monday's paper was the result of an exciting partnership between a powerful print medium and an organisation of civil society. It placed a highly talented and professional, visibly committed and surprisingly young staff at our disposal to shape the policy, contents and format of The Gleaner for the day. One usually thinks of newspapers as organs of vested interests, but Monday's issue was a medium, in the true sense of being a pathway, through which a public was given the opportunity to influence national opinion.

All innovations involve risks. That Monday's succeeded. I attribute to the remarkable synergy between a team of highly disciplined and experienced journalists and four 'novices' with nothing to commend them, but the fire of their commitment to change.

Professor Barry Chevannes

Professor of social anthropology, UWI