The Fair Trading Commission’s (FTC) staff has raised no objection to a proposed joint venture to print the Jamaica Observer and The Gleaner at a central location under a jointly owned entity.
The FTC’s executive director, David Miller, will make the final determination based on the staff’s recommendation. “The FTC should issue its non-objection to the parties regarding this joint-venture transaction,” according to the report published on the FTC’s website last week.
The FTC staff was satisfied that competition would remain.
“The two newspapers will continue to operate as distinct brands, competing on content quality, journalistic integrity, and editorial perspective,” the report stated.
The Jamaica Observer Limited wrote to the commission last August seeking a non-objection to the arrangement. In a staff report dated March 2026, investigators said the two publishers intend to pool their printing, circulation and distribution operations under a jointly owned company, North Beech Limited.
The companies are seeking to contain costs and improve the sustainability of their print businesses amid long-running financial pressures in the media sector.
“The establishment of [the joint venture] was stated to be to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, achieve savings, and promote corporate sustainability,” the report said. Staff examined the arrangement against Section 17 of the Fair Competition Act, which seeks to preserve competition in the marketplace.
The joint venture would eliminate direct competition between the Observer and The Gleaner in the market for commercial newspaper printing services. However, investigators found that the agreements contain no provisions that would foreclose potential new entrants by refusing them printing services – a scenario staff said would otherwise raise significant competition concerns.
Investigators also found that the arrangement would not diminish consumer choice, as both newspapers would continue to operate independently.
The staff report’s recommendation comes against the backdrop of a longer consolidation in media. In a separate matter in 2016, the FTC raised no objection to the amalgamation of The Gleaner Company with Radio Jamaica Limited, a transaction that created the integrated RJRGLEANER Communications Group. At the time, the commission concluded that despite increased concentration across traditional media platforms, competition from alternative broadcasters, newspapers and emerging digital media limited the risk of market dominance.
carolyn.guniss@rjrgleanerjm.com
