The Media Association Jamaica Limited (MAJ) is saddened by the passing of Chad Young, Chief Executive Officer of the high energy radio station Zip FM and the reggae station Irie FM.

Chad was left to manage Grove Broadcasting Limited, which owns Zip and Irie, after his father, the stalwart Karl Young died.  He carried on his father’s legacy well.

The MAJ expresses condolences to his family and colleagues and wishes them comfort in this period of grief.

At the Annual General Meeting today, the Media Association Jamaica Limited (MAJ) elected its new Committee Executives and Officers for 2014 as follows:-

The Media Association Jamaica Limited (MAJ) notes the recent arrest of three employees of the Nation Publishing Company Ltd in Barbados in relation to the publication of a photograph of two minors engaged in sexual activity in a school classroom.  The MAJ is concerned with these developments particularly during a period when Jamaica and the rest of the region are celebrating the abolishment, in at least one CARICOM territory, of criminal defamation which has served, though seldom used, as a shackle on press freedom.

The Media Association Jamaica Limited (MAJ) celebrates, along with Jamaica, the passing in the House of Representatives, on November 5, 2013, of the Defamation Act 2013 which will replace the Libel and Slander Act, of 1851, and the Defamation Act of 1961.

The MAJ is pleased that the long awaited amendments to the defamation laws were tabled in the senate last week. Our congratulations go out to the minister and all involved in bringing the process to this point. The proposed abolition of criminal libel will, if passed, be a significant achievement for Jamaica and is applauded by us.