Today I read a story on the Jamaican Observer titled “US Jamaicans urge return of capital punishment”.  My first thought was that an extensive survey was done to get the opinions of Jamaicans living in the US.  A total of seven people were mentioned in the story.  No survey of wide segment of the population. In fact they did not get a quote from Florida which is has the second largest Jamaican community in the US. There were figures to back up the headline.

Should seven interviews be used as the opinion of the over 1 million* Jamaicans who live in the USA?  (*The estimate per 1990 USA census but the figure is probably much higher)

Whether I agree or disagree “to a return of capital punishment “is not the key issue here. It is the misrepresentation of Jamaicans living in the US because there are no real facts to back the statement.  The Jamaican media is not the only one that does this. In the US we see CNN, FOX and MSNBC invite a  black leader who is supposed to speak for the  black community on a racially sensitive topic.

I find this headline misleading. Do you? Do these 7 Jamaican represent your opinion?