Dear Editor,

As an avid reader of our daily papers I do try to be as honest and fair in my comparisons on all entities, hence it is with this fair and balanced open-mindedness I write to congratulate you on being the leader in investigative journalism where our daily press is concerned. Just like CVM Television has changed the landscape of investigative news reporting, so has the Observer.

To back my assertions, I will refer to the Observer of March 15, with the story, “Golding’s sternest political test – How the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition story unfolded ” by Desmond Allen. The story went on to list and itemise all the major happenings surrounding the extradition request.

Point by point the Investigative Coverage Unit outlined the pieces put together to give Jamaicans a firm footing as to how the saga started and is currently unfolding. Now, with such effectiveness, accuracy and difference in relating a story, it is no wonder that the other news entity had to copy your standard to make it their headline story of last Sunday’s paper, (March 21), trying to give a breakdown of how the Manatt, Phelps and Phillips story is unfolding.

One may argue that the Observer tends to be bold by depicting themselves as the lion while the other entity is a dog. It might be harsh but the sentiment has significance because the Observer, by setting the pace for online activities, via polls, blogs and comments is not the underdog anymore.

To cement my arguments, Sunday’s edition, March 21, printed a story,

“Sunday Observer ‘Dudus’ design takes prize” which said a US website stated that the local tabloid had better pictures than American papers.

Just to ensure that the Sunday Observer was not exaggerating, I used my journalistic instinct and went online and checked it out, and there it was on gawker.com. The Observer took top prize above world-renowned papers such as the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily News and more. Also, with the very dramatic yet insightful cartoon characters which you use to portray stories, it is no secret that you are indeed the better paper right now. Continue doing the good work and showcase to the world that we are indeed capable of being the best at anything.

Melvin Pennant

warriorsunleashed@gmail.com