Project Title

Investigating the Changes: A Look at the Intersection of Profit-making, Race and Identity in News Production

Research Topic   

Vashan’s research will examine the ways in which the confluence of postcolonial nationalism and neoliberalism in contemporary Jamaica is changing journalism and journalists’ understandings of their roles and work. It will examine the extent to which postcolonial nationalism and neoliberal practices stand in tension or work together in the construction of Jamaican news cultures. In the context of Jamaica’s postcolonial race relations and newly configured neoliberal print and broadcast newsrooms, his study will also seek to examine how the values and contemporary imperatives of Jamaican journalists/journalism are revealed in news coverage. In tandem, the study will also examine current and potential sites of resistance to neoliberal news production amongst Jamaican journalists. 

Biography 

Vashan is pursuing his PhD in Media and Communication on a London Arts and Humanities Partnership Award.

He completed a Master’s 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 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). He has been awarded by Northern Caribbean University for outstanding contribution to the Jamaican Media. He has also received six Certificates of Merit for Outstanding work in Journalism in Jamaica. 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