THE GLEANER Company yesterday walked away with the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica (AAAJ) 'Media of the Year' award for 2004, the eighth consecutive year that the newspaper company has won the prestigious award.

Yvonne Senior, The Gleaner's advertising and marketing manager, along with Nordia Craig, assistant advertising manager, received the award on behalf of the company.

The Jamaica Observer Ltd. and Television Jamaica (TVJ) were awarded first and second runner-up respectively at the awards luncheon held at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston.

Neville Blythe, chairman of the CVM/UGI Group, was declared 'Media Personality of the Year'.

In delivering the keynote address Lester Spaulding, chairman of the RJR Communications Group, rapped Government for being lax in allowing local cable television operators to air advertisements illegally.

AIRED ILLEGALLY

"The Minister of Information's publicly-announced intent to legalise advertising on cable has not taken place, but the reality is that commercials are being placed, accepted and aired illegally," said Mr. Spaulding.

He noted that cable operators were not bound to adhere to "the stringent regulatory framework dictated by the Broadcasting Commission for free to air broadcast entities."

In pointing to further inequities between the free-to-air and cable-TV operators, Mr. Spaulding said traditional electronic media entities contribute "over $200 million to Government broadcast in mandatory required time invoked by our licences at no cost to them."

Special media awards were presented to the RJR Communications Group, the Jamaica Observer and Power 106 for outstanding contribution to the advancement of Jamaican talk radio.

SPECIAL AWARDS

Fifty-one persons from the island's media houses were presented with special awards, certificates of merit and certificates of appreciation. Gleaner awardees included Allison Davis, Abena Banton, Sophia Johnson, Errent Murray, Althea Gayle, Sandra James, Suzette Brown, Nordia Craig and Yvonne Senior.

Mr. Robert McMillan, past president of the AAAJ, officiated at the awards function.

Published Friday, July 02, 2004