By Patrick Hoyos From the time she was a teenager, there seemed to be a soundtrack playing in Kaymar Jordan’s head. It was not a song, but a newscast, and she tried to put it on tape, making up what she now describes with a laugh as “my pretend news,” which, for some unknown reason, was always datelined “Antigua” and began with the words “Prime Minister Lester Bird ...” That “soundtrack” must have stayed in Kaymar Jordan’s subsconscious, for although she entered the journalism profession on the print side, the rhythms and cadence of the spoken word continued to interest her, causing her to spend lunch hours and even time after work in the radio studios of her employer, trying to assimilate the emotion, authority and sometimes drama of the professional news broadcast. It did not come naturally to her, and she had to keep trying to improve. But it was that unending drive for self-improvement, along with a passion for the news business, that propelled Kaymar Jordan to become a multi-skilled reporter at a time when walls of tradition existed between the three sectors of journalism. Over the years, her drive would make hers one of the most recognised voices, faces and names in the Caribbean. On September 1, 2010, Ms. Jordan, formerly the News & Current Affairs Director with the Caribbean Media Corporation, took up the post of Editor-in-Chief of the Nation Publishing Co. Ltd., with the responsibility for an editorial staff of over 100 people and for retaining the market dominance of the country’s leading daily newspaper and most visited local news website. Eight months after taking up her new job, Ms. Jordan says she is “still excited every day” about going to work. The most direct impact of the job on her as a journalist is that she can’t go out and get as many stories herself as she had done in the past. ‘It’s difficult to report directly now,” she says, as “media, especially a newspaper, is a team effort.” To lead that team, Kaymar Jordan can draw on nearly two decades of experience in print and broadcast journalism, from teenage recruit to seasoned professional. Early adventures. Ms. Jordan’s willingness to learn both print and radio skills at the same time led her to be chosen to cover the Food & Agriculture Organisation’s conference in Rome, when she was still not past the age of 20. CANA realised they didn’t have to send two people to cover the event. When she was told she would be heading to Rome, she said “sure” immediately. “That was my attitude from the start. I used to say, ‘When I come in, they could tell me to go
JOURNALISM
InBusiness
The Broad Street Journal i August 3, 2011
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Journey to the top of the news The Nation Publishing Co. Ltd.’s editor-in-chief, Kaymar Jordan, recalls some of the events and experiences that shaped her skills and approach to her profession.
Executive Profile
Media Corporation, shut down operations for a period after running into what she described as “serious financial trouble.” The merger had not gone “according to plan,” she says, and “we kind of went belly-up.” After a short stint on, ironically, the Nation’s Business Desk, Ms. Jordan was invited to rejoin the CMC, as the agency’s wire service was being restarted with only two full-time editors - herself on news and Lance Whittaker on sports. “Those were the difficult years,” she recalls, “and what we did then was try to build back the service, calling on some traditional stringers in the field and bringing in some new ones.” By May 2001 a limited print service was restarted. The TV service was also restarted with one person, and although neither editor felt television was their ‘thing’, she says, “We would go across and read the news.” They worked out of a room downstairs at the old CANA building on Beckles Road, St. Michael, with General Manager Gary Allen and two accounting staffers upstairs. In addition to less than a dozen regular stringers, there were a few others in the smaller islands ready to report if a big news story broke, so “it was really a skeleton staff,” she recalled. Ms. Jordan and Mr. Whittaker also did a lot more of their own reporting, because “by then I had my own string of contacts - prime ministers, business leaders, etc. We generated a lot of the content and edited all of it.” Working late was a regular part of the job. As the market’s confidence in CMC’s services began to be restored, the small staff was able to grow and also expand its prodEditor-in-Chief of the Nation Publishing Co. Ltd., Kaymar Jordan. Photo by uct offerings, including a television news Randy Phillips show. Ms. Jordan’s confidence as a TV news personality was also growing, and it would and skip ropes from the time I’m there to can conquer the world. He instilled that in make her a formidable presence on air, both when I leave. I never watched the clock and me from early.” in presenting the news and in her direct, I never said ‘It can’t happen.’ I was excited straight-to-the-point interviews with the about this industry from the start.” Rising in the ranks: During her long career region’s political and business leaders. Her mother had nightmares about her with the regional news agency, Ms. Jordan young daughter heading off so far from left and returned not once, but twice. The Academic advancement: Along with her the home fires of Castle, St. Peter, but Ms. first time was in 2000, when CANA, rise in the ranks of the news business, Ms. Jordan says she took her father’s attitude to shortly after merging with the Caribbean Jordan was determined to upgrade her acait. “He was a go-getter and he believed you Broadcasting Union to form the Caribbean See JOURNEY, next page