Project Title

Profit, Power and the News Industry: Analysing News Production Culture in Jamaica

Research Topic   

Vashan’s PhD research is exploring the structural and ideological forces and processes that shape news production culture in Jamaica. Via semi-structured interviews with both current and former journalists, he is particularly interested in how these actors understand and discursively represent the conditions and politics of their work and industry, and their place within it. He’s also interested in how the country’s postcolonial history shapes the news institutions themselves as well as the reporting of key political and economic issues. His study will also seek to examine how the values and contemporary imperatives of Jamaican journalists/journalism are revealed in news coverage. 

Biography 

Vashan is pursuing his PhD in Media and Communication on a London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) Award. He completed a Master of Science Degree in Media, Communication and Development (with distinction) at LSE in 2019 on a Chevening Scholarship. In 2012, Vashan graduated from Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Mass Communication (with Honours). Vashan has more than ten years of experience in the media industry in Jamaica, where he worked as a Television News Anchor and Reporter. Vashan has received numerous awards for his contribution to Jamaican journalism. In 2018, he received the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence in Journalism – the highest national honour given to young people in Jamaica. He’s also received the Governor General of Jamaica Achievement Award. He received the Caribbean Broadcasting Union Award for Best Television Documentary in 2018 for his story about how a community once polarized by violence was able to achieve zero murders. In 2017, he received the Jamaica National Journalism Award for Best Television Feature/Documentary. In 2018, he also received the top news award at the National Journalism Award for an outstanding body of work for the year (Hector Bernard/Theodore Sealy Award for News Journalism). In 2023, he received the Jamaican National Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Agriculture as well as the Award for Excellence in Reporting on Health and Wellness. He has been awarded by Northern Caribbean University for outstanding contribution to the Jamaican Media. Vashan has also served as a Director of the Press Association of Jamaica, the island’s premier association dedicated to freedom of the press.

Supervisors

Dr Wendy Willems and Professor Shakuntala Banaji