University journalism professor Tom Bivins was given an intimate look at Jamaican life this summer after visiting Kingston to give lectures at universities and media outlets about ethics in journalism.
His three-day visit was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State through the U.S. Embassy Office of Public Affairs.
“I have no idea how I was chosen for this,” Bivins said. “I just received a call from the Department of State asking if I was interested in participating and I said, ‘Sure, why not?’”
In Kingston, Bivins spoke with students and faculty at the Department of Communication at Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville and the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication at the University of the West Indies, where conversation topics ranged from politics to Hurricane Katrina and American media versus the BBC.
“Jamaicans are very politically active and very globally focused,” Bivins said. “They follow European and Western media and have opinions about everything.”
Bivins was asked about media coverage of Hurricane Katrina.
“When you compare American media with the BBC, BBC is very objective,” he said. “A disaster like Katrina is very ethno-centric and stories become too emotional. I was asked, ‘Why aren’t they emotional over the war in Iraq?’”
Upon his arrival in Kingston, Bivins was met by embassy officials and started making appearances at radio interviews, television talk shows, university lectures and talks with local journalists at various media outlets throughout the city.
“The people of Jamaica are incredibly friendly. Total strangers look you in the eye and say hello or some sort of slang that sounded friendly … but I didn’t always understand what some people were saying,” he said. “I don’t think I passed more than half-a-dozen people who didn’t say hello.”
Bivins laughed as he explained a surprising characteristic of the Jamaican people.
“It was really helpful to be in an English-speaking country, but this was ‘Jamaican-English,’ which was kind of French and kind of English,” Bivins said. “If I was listening to two Jamaican people talking to each other, I was lucky to catch one out of 15 words. It sounded too cliche to be true, but they really do say, ‘ya mon’ constantly.”
Tim Gleason, dean of the University’s School of Journalism and Communication, said Bivins’ invitation reflected his expertise in journalism ethics.
“I think it’s an indication of Tom’s great reputation in the field – nationally and internationally,” Gleason said. “It’s a very good thing for us, the School of Journalism and the University, to have our faculty representing us and showing everyone the caliber of people we have here.”
Bivins teaches Mass Media Ethics, Ethics and Persuasion, and Philosophy of Communication.

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