–says Ralph Ramkarran

AS the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) celebrated the life and contributions of the late Janet Jagan, her role as a journalist prior to becoming president was highlighted.
Ralph Ramkarran, in his remarks at a symposium held on Thursday at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, said that Mrs. Jagan’s contributions to journalism and the media were significant.

He said that Janet Jagan first served as editor of The Thunder, which was a leading party organ in the 1950s and 1960s, and later as editor of The Mirror, which came on stream in the early 1960s.
During a very critical period, Ramkarran said, Mrs. Jagan became editor of The Mirror, and fought for its survival against forces which sought to have its production ended.

The Mirror was the leading newspaper in the latter part of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, he said.
In the late 1960s, Ramkarran told the gathering, agents of The Mirror were beaten in the streets, among other things, and as such there had to be a great fight, and the use of innovative means and measures to ensure that the circulation of the newspaper at that time was kept high. These means and measures were piloted by Mrs. Jagan.

He said: “Her contribution to the politics and political development of Guyana is so vast, that if you take just one aspect of it, her role as a publicist, editor of The Thunder and as a journalist in The Mirror, that alone can carry a book.”

It was noted that Mrs. Jagan effected change with the stories that were carried in both newspapers.
Ramkarran further noted that it is for that reason that in the political history of Guyana, her role as a journalist is a critical one, as it helped to advance the country to where it is today.