An article on the topical matter of the absence of Jamaica from the UNGA vote towards peace in Gaza on October 27 vote on struck a chord with me as I have been thinking that state agencies should share primary and other data that they use to make decisions. Sometimes, I think that despite targets that are set by agencies, decisions are not based on data and information that will help to achieve the goals but based on other factors.
As I went through the printed Sunday Gleaner and Jamaica Observer newspapers on November 5, I saw other articles in the Observer that are calling for more timely information and data that is created or used by the public sector.
Page 24 Bunting Scolds Gov't Entities for Late Annual Reports
Page 30 advertisement: FSC Has Nothing To Hide
Page 30 Senator Wehby Moots Auditors' Database, "there is no sharing of information or cross learning between these audit committees."
Pages 34 and 35 Garfield Higgins, "Facts Matter"
Timeliness and transparency of public information was also mentioned at a public lecture last week. Dr Peter Henry delivered the November 2 PIOJ Dialogue for Development Lecture, and I choose to summarize his charge with this quote from his speech, "By cultivating a culture of transparency regarding the social rate of return on public spending by the Government of Jamaica, the Ministry of Finance could boost its credibility even further and increase engagement with prospective foreign and domestic investors, thereby generating scale and momentum."
My core interest is the data that s available for persons who have the responsibility to carry out the execution of communication programmes. As I was looking at the printed newspapers on November 5, I noted which ads would have a measurable impact.
In the Gleaner, the Companies Office posted the list of companies that have not delivered beneficial ownership returns that can be accepted by the companies office. This ad is probably a requirement for the Companies Office so the fact that it was published is satisfying the communication function. In a similar way, the careers pages are customarily the first point of contact for job seekers so the many ads and notices with regards to professions is almost considered a requirement. The Institution of Engineers ad warning persons to use registered public engineers is such an example. The week before, it was the Jamaica Dental Association warning persons awar from unlicensed practitioners. In these cases, the number of calls and other activities should be documented within two weeks of the placement of the ad in order to determine its impact.
Page 32 of the Sunday Gleaner was a full page full colour advertisement Petrojam's Product Pricing Explained. There was no invitation for action, but any calls to the office can be counted and its purpose considered whether it had the desired impact. Perhaps this ad satisfies a specific group of stakeholders.
The Bank of Jamaica has four full colour ads in the Business Observer (pages 3, 5, 7, and 9) explaining how to know if a $100 bill is authentic. Each ad covers 40% of the page. In the Gleaner, these ads are about 20% of the pages and do not flow as the pages turn but appear at different places on the broadsheet. There is no bold call to action and I do not see it having a measurable impact on the platforms of the institution.
Election Day Recruitment has a half page full colour ad in the careers section of the newspaper. This ad encourages applications so it is reasonable to say that email applications and calls that come in over the next week can be directly attributed to the print ads.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness full page, full colour Dengue Alert in the Gleaner, the fogging schedule for November 5 to eleven, have no call to action. I do not see a way to measure the impact of these ads.
National Health Fund placed a quarter page full colour ad in the Gleaner and the Observer announcing that five more chronic illnesses are being covered by its services. Calls and other forms of contact about the specific content of the ad over the next week will be able to demonstrate impact.
The same will be true for the Development Bank of Jamaica invitation for entrepreneurs to take advantage of its Credit Enhancement Facility which was advertised using a half page full colour ad in the Gleaner. also of the National Housing Trust half page full colour ads on locations to apply for its loans.
On November 8 the PIOJ will have a Best Practice Symposium and invites the public to watch using a YouTube link. On November 10, the symposium will feature a public fair on the South Lawn of Devon House called the Local Economic Initiative. It has placed a half page full colour ad to promote this. Only calls and emails to the company over the next week can precisely identify the impact of the ad. There is no way to trace the viewers on YouTube and the persons coming through the fair will not be asked how they found out about it.
On a different matter, enterprises tamper with their logos during the seasons of the year such as for breast cancer awareness, Christmas, and the independence of Jamaica. This trend should be interrogated as I believe it is a fashion trend and not for any real meaningful purpose. Is there an increase in the number of women being screened for breast cancer during October, the awareness month?
Why should any public entity tamper with a logo over Christmas or the independence or heritage holidays? What benefit does this bring to the public?
I will wager my last dollar that there is no data that validates that the changing the colour of a corporate logo during popular health awareness months has an impact on behaviour change and health outcomes. At this time, that data should exist and should be collected and considered.
No comments:
Post a Comment