TVJ is the most well-known television station in Jamaica. We have appeared both in the news and in talk shows.

Prime Time News

We made a single appearance on Prime Time News on TVJ.

• December 2, 2023
  We appeared on the news to alert the nation about the participation of a cabinet minister in a “Celebration in Solidarity with Israel” where he gave a speech in front of a sign that said “Jamaica Stands with Israel” - the Minister of Foreign Affairs claimed that the speech was given in a private capacity, but we presented evidence that showed otherwise.

All Angles

We have made 3 appearances on All Angles, a show hosted by Dionne Jackson-Miller.

• April 11, 2019
  Someone from LANDS was on a panel of several youth speakers, where we discussed voter apathy among youth and the implications for Democracy. Our position has been to avoid conflating elections with Democracy. We do not believe that voting, especially in the current political system, gives people real power. We also don’t believe that the mere presence of a parliamentary opposition is sufficient in holding the government accountable.

• April 26, 2023
  Someone from LANDS was on a panel of 5 speakers with views about constitutional reform. Our speaker, joined by Carvel Stewart and Peter Espeut, opposed the idea of a ceremonial presidency that the government seemed to be promoting at the time. Carvel Stewart expressed support for an executive presidency and direct election for all ministers. Lloyd Barnett expressed support for a ceremonial presidency and opposed the idea of an executive presidency. Our speaker said that ceremonial and executive presidencies are not the only types, and encouraged looking into other options; we developed our own model of a what we call representative presidency. Rocky Meade, the co-chair of the Constitutional Reform Committee, said that the committee was not bound to any specific model of presidency and invited LANDS to make a presentation of our proposals.

• August 16, 2023
  Someone from LANDS was on a panel of 4 speakers, as a follow-up to past discussions on the constitutional reform process. A representative of the Constitutional Reform Committee said that she felt that committee members were being “bullied” while others felt that the committee needs to be more transparent and communicative about its work and efforts. We highlighted that the minutes of CRC meetings are not uploaded in a timely manner and that the people don’t have a clear idea of what specific proposals are being made by the government or the CRC; in turn, the representative of the CRC said that the CRC doesn’t have proposals of its own and that its work is to review proposals that have been made. This confused us as we recalled the CRC and key members of it explicitly endorsing the model of a ceremonial presidency and then later saying that it is considering a hybrid model, but that people do not know the actual details of their discussions. We believe that meetings should be livestreamed and recorded so that the public can view the proceedings of the committee. The representative of the CRC says that livestreaming takes place and that the link is sent to select persons, but this still doesn’t allow the public to view the livestream or view any recordings after the livestream is done.

CVM is the second most eminent television station in Jamaica. We were mentioned in a news broadcast:

• February 3, 2020
  CVM reported on our advocacy regarding the Sexual Harassment Act, where we pushed for the inclusion of provisions to protect workers from sexual harassment by clients; this was omitted from the bill before our intervention. Our proposal was rejected by the Minister of Justice, but defended by Senator Kavan Gayle (a labour unionist) as well as multiple opposition legislators.

• April 27, 2024
  CVM interviewed someone from LANDS, to find out our expectations of the constitutional reform process. We expressed that a proper constitutional reform process could have taken place in less than 2 years, but the government’s approach so far has not made us optimistic.

• May 14, 2024
  CVM reported on an event that we held on May 11, where there were several presentations on the situation in Palestine and how it affects specific sectors of the Palestinian society. Despite it not being the main point of the event, CVM focused on a comment about the two-state solution.

• May 17, 2024
  After making reference to our May 11 event, CVM invited 3 of the participants to a panel discussion. They mainly spoke from the perspective of international law, but also gave information on the demographics of Palestine and its connection to Jamaica.

We appeared on the video-based talk show called “Mek Wi Talk” hosted by Jeffery Tavares:

• February 6, 2024
  One of our leaders was invited alongside leaders of other extraparliamentary parties to explain why we were “skipping” local government elections. We explained that we were not “skipping” anything because our focus is not electoral politics.

We have made a few appearances on radio shows hosted by RJR 94 FM.

Beyond the Headlines

We have made a few appearances on Beyond the Headlines, a daily programme hosted by Dionne Jackson-Miller.

• April 15, 2019
  Someone from LANDS spoke about Jamaica’s low voter turnout, its implications for Democracy, and how well elected officials represented the youth.

• May 2, 2023
  We spoke about our ongoing work on constitutional reform, and elaborated on our model for electing the President and the Senate. We opposed the idea of a ceremonial president, warned about some of the problems that come with an executive president, and explained that those are not the only 2 options for a presidency.

• June 21, 2023
  We gave our views on the issue of job descriptions for Members of Parliament and cabinet ministers. We believe that the drafts from the Office of the Prime Minister were very generic, and we explained what we believe should be the basic responsibilities of each Member of Parliament.

• September 14, 2023
  In response to an article written by David Salmon, one of our members concurred with some points he made about executive presidencies but argued that separation of powers is even worse under the current parliamentary system.

• April 24, 2024
  Following the government’s decision to officially recognise the State of Palestine, we were asked our views. Our position is that we welcome this development but that it was only 1 of our 4 demands concerning Palestine.

• May 15, 2024
  With the impasse between the ruling party and the parliamentary opposition on constitutional reform, we were invited to give our views. We lamented the partisan tribalism surrounding the process and reiterated our desire for popular involvement. When asked about our expectations of the process, we said that we no longer expect to see a transition to a republic soon, but still within the next 10-15 years.

That’s a Rap

We made 2 appearances on “That’s a Rap” - a part of Earl Moxam’s Sunday show.

• November 5, 2023
  A day after our first March for Palestine, we were asked about our stance on Palestine and our demands of the government.

• December 3, 2023
  We spoke about a cabinet minister participating in a “Celebration in Solidarity with Israel” and the implications it had for the perceived stance of the government on the Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

We have never been interviewed directly by Nationwide, but we have been mentioned.

• May 12, 2023
  Nationwide reported on our presentation to the Constitutional Reform Committee, where we advocated for the President and the Senate to be elected rather than appointed.

We have made a few appearances on Rebel Radio, an online radio show hosted by Desmond Richards.

• November 6, 2023
  We were invited to talk about LANDS, what motivated us to organise ourselves into a political force, and our vision for Jamaica. We spoke mostly of the need for better management of land for the benefit of the masses; we spoke mostly about housing, transportation, and food sovereignty.

• November 10, 2023
  We were invited to join a panel with 2 others, including the Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs. We expressed concerns about whether the constitutional reform process reflected the will of the people. The Minister said that the President would be an apolitical one similar to the role that the Governor-General plays in rising above the political divide, and insisted that Jamaica would keep its current parliamentary system; we said that this sounds like the government is going with a ceremonial presidency, but the Minister insisted that we were wrong. The Minister claims that we misrepresent the model of presidency that the government is proposing, so we demanded that the government provide something in writing to outline the model of presidency that it is proposing; the minister admitted that it is something that they are yet to do.

• November 20, 2023
  We were invited to speak on the situation in Palestine. We opposed the narrative of an “Israel-Hamas” war and pointed out that Israel mainly attacks civilians rather than engaging the armed groups that they say they are targeting. We spoke about the genocidal nature of the Israeli state and the growing internationalist support for the Palestinian people and their struggle. We also mentioned that we recently concluded our movement’s annual congress, where we discussed our priorities for the upcoming year.

• May 13, 2024
  We participated in a discussion on the situation in Palestine, giving a short recap of our May 11 event where we presented information on how the crisis affects specific sectors of Palestinian society.

We made 2 appearances on a radio show hosted by Jerry Small on Bes’ 100 FM.

• October 6, 2021
  This was our first appearance on the station. At a time when many people were becoming newly interested in activism, we explained the importance of being organised in order for activism to be effective. We shared some details about our organising model and our intentions in helping other groups to get organised.

• July 13, 2022
  For our second appearance on the station, one of our members explained our work on anti-corruption legislation. We had proposed amendments to the Integrity Commission Act and the Protected Disclosures Act.

We made an appearance on the Mawnin Medz segment of the Up & Go morning show, on The Bridge 99FM.

• November 3, 2023
  We spoke about the situation in Palestine, the Jamaican government’s relationship with Israel, and the global effort to hold demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine.

We made an appearance on Sun City Radio FM, based in Portmore.

• February 28, 2022
  We spoke about the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the polarisation between those who advocated for full lockdowns and those who advocated lifting all restrictions.

Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs (Jamaica)

• We were mentioned in a press release dated May 17, 2023. The release summarises our proposals for constitutional reform which were presented to the committee earlier that month.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cuba)

• We were mentioned in a press release dated November 11, 2021. The Cuban Embassy in Jamaica congratulated us on celebrating our 5th anniversary, and thanked us for mobilising to defend Cubans in Jamaica who were threatened by violence earlier that year.

• We were mentioned in a press release dated April 20, 2022. We were recognised for a speech that we gave in commemoration of Cuba’s victory during the Bay of Pigs incident.

• We were mentioned in a press release dated April 16, 2024. We were recognised for a speech that we gave in commemoration of Cuba’s victory during the Bay of Pigs incident.

Communist Party of Kenya

• Along with the CPK, we condemned the plans, by the governments of Jamaica and Kenya, for military intervention in Haiti. The CPK issued a release on this on April 16, 2024.

The JIS is the government’s official information service, responsible for disseminating information about the government’s functions, work, and programmes.

• October 4, 2023
  We were mentioned as one of the stakeholder groups that have been consulted by the Constitutional Reform Committee. It was reported that the issues that we raised were documented for further deliberation. The government also announced a plan to conduct public education for 2 years, to inform people about the different types of governance structures.

We have been mentioned in some articles by The Gleaner, one of our 2 most eminent newspapers.

• June 23, 2017
  The Gleaner reported on our support for the redefinition of rape to include male victims. We called on the parliament to make a distinction between consensual and non-consensual sexual acts between men. Right-wing groups opposed this because they say it would force the parliament to legalise consensual same-sex acts or allow the court to do so if the parliament doesn’t. The result is that sexual violence against men continues to carry a lower penalty than sexual violence against women.

• August 24, 2019
  The Gleaner reported on our presence at a celebration of Fidel Castro’s birthday. Several local politicians and other officials were also present.

• May 24, 2023
  The Gleaner reported that the government said that consultations would delay the constitutional reform process. We were mentioned as one of the organisations that has been consulted.

• June 27, 2023
  The Gleaner reported that more than 70% of submissions, about reforms to the Integrity Commission Act, included calls for the “gag clause” in the law to be scrapped. The “gag clause” prevents the Integrity Commission from publicly naming someone who is under investigation until parliament chooses to table their reports. We were mentioned as one of the organisations that was calling for the removal of the controversial clause.

• November 5, 2023
  The Gleaner reported on the local March for Palestine, held in Kingston the day before. They downplayed the size of the turnout, reporting “dozens” when it was well over 200. They also downplayed the number of people who were killed by Israeli violence, reporting a mere “hundreds” when the real number was already over 10,000 at the time. The article featured a series of quotes from an interview of a LANDS member, without publishing the questions that were asked, leaving readers of the article without the context that the statements were made in.

• February 4, 2024
  The Gleaner mentioned LANDS as one of the political parties that would not be participating in the local government elections in 2024. We mentioned that we are not focused on electoral politics, and that we are focused on building our base. The article claims that our position is that it takes money to run a political party, but what we actually said is that it takes money to run a political campaign.

• April 25, 2024
  Our Cooperation Officer was reported as noting the government’s recognition of the State of Palestine as “a good step” but made it clear that it was the “bare minimum”. He reiterated our position that the government needs to recognise that what Israel is doing in Gaza as a genocide.

• May 18, 2024
  The Gleaner made a social media post about the March for Palestine that we are heavily involved in, saying that we were marching “for peace”. They did not report on any of our actual demands.

We have had some articles published in the Jamaica Observer, one of our 2 most eminent newspapers.

• January 16, 2017
  A former member wrote a criticism of the government’s friendly relations with Israel. Parts of the article were censored, and it mentioned another organisation instead of LANDS.

• October 31, 2017
  One of our members wrote an article on the renewal process that was taking place in the PNP after Peter Phillips took over leadership of the party.

• February 11, 2018
  One of our members wrote a scathing critique of Jamaica’s foreign policy.

• May 18, 2024
  The Observer shared a video of one of our members reiterating the 4 demands of the March for Palestine.

Loop Jamaica mentioned us just once.

• November 5, 2023
  Loop reported that many Jamaicans took to the streets on November 4 in the March for Palestine, a mobilisation that was coordinated by LANDS.

We have been mentioned in articles by the People’s Dispatch, an international media project that covers peoples’ movements across the world.

• March 9, 2019
  PD reported that our delegate to the International Peoples’ Assembly was detained and interrogated while trying to return home. The same thing had happened to some delegates representing Mexico. This was believed to be a part of a deliberate effort to intimidate us and others.

• April 1, 2020
  PD reported the story of Rene Guarachi, a Bolivian journalist who was detained and tortured for exposing police brutality towards little children. 2 persons from LANDS went to Bolivia to participate in a fact-finding mission, including the interview of Rene Guarachi.

We were featured in an article by Our Today:

• November 5, 2023
  Our Today reported that LANDS coordinated a demonstration the day before. They highlighted that Israel had killed over 10,000 people, with over 4,000 of them being children. “The Jamaican Government has thrown its support behind Israel and maintains the country has the right to defend itself. Many Jamaicans are not happy with the carnage wrought on Palestine and the images of death, destruction and rising plumes of black smoke that now characterise the Palestinian skyline.” Their video footage showed a speech by Paul Ward, the organiser of a petition that has 4 demands of the Jamaican government; these 4 demands are distinct from the 4 official demands being made by the participants of the demonstration.