Joy Bramble

Profile: Joy Bramble

Jocelyn "Joy" Bramble is publisher of several community newspapers in Maryland, including The Baltimore Times, Annapolis Times, Shore Times and Prince George’s County Times. Joy, a native of Montserrat in the Caribbean, worked as a teacher there and in Baltimore, and was principal of a Head Start program in Connecticut. Her first business venture was purchasing and managing two neighborhood grocery stores. She then decided to try her hand at the newspaper business. The Baltimore Times, created with the motto, "positive stories about positive people," was started on her kitchen table in 1986. Bramble is a member of the MDDC Technology Committee.

PERSONAL:
Born May 14, 1946. Married Dec. 28, 1972 to Father Peter Bramble, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY. Children: Cara, 26, and David, 24, law students at Harvard and U. of Pennsylvania, resepctively.

How would you describe yourself? "I’m a happy, friendly person, too trusting, I love people and am pro family and education. I am willing to try new ideas, some have worked, some have been disasters, but I learn from them. It is a gift to be happy in your work and it is possible to make money, have fun and contribute to your community. I believe I can do most things if I put my mind to it and am persistent when committed to a project."

Education: BA Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario. Professional teaching certificate, University of Calgary, Alberta.

PROFESSIONAL:
Favorite part of job: "Meeting people, batting around intriguing ideas, and implementing them. The industry is changing and I believe we have to create new products to keep our readers interested. This challenge has kept me involved in this business."

Least favorite part of job: "Paperwork, detail management and the eternal question of the bottom line!"

Biggest challenge of job: "Hiring and retaining good journalists who can find, research and investigate a story. In this economy, good black journalists can write their own ticket. A small newspaper cannot compete with the salaries of larger newspapers."

Most serious challenge to news gatherers today: "There is a tendency to rush to become ‘first’ and publish stories which are not quite correct.There has also been a definite swing to editorialize news stories and the public has become quite cynical about this."

Main benefit of MDDC membership: "‘Large paper’ benefits a small paper cannot afford to provide for itself – e.g. legal issues, etc. "

FUN:
Fantasy job: "Traveling to a remote area and working on a project, which would help to change or have a significant impact on the lives of the people living there."

Favorite type(s) of music: "Eclectic in order of preference – classical, country and ‘regular’ i.e. old time pop songs."

Favorite car and car you drive now: "1999 Lincoln Town Car. I love big American cars because I drive a lot and I love comfort."

Last book read: "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver.

Last movie seen: "Nurse Betty"

Last vacation: "August 2000. I visited Oberammergau in Germany to see the Passion Play, Vienna and Salzburg, and an old friend in the Dordogne region of France."

How you would like to spend one day: "Very simply – late, lazy breakfast with husband, children, settling the world’s affairs. Putter around the house and later in the evening, a small dinner with friends and a movie."

Favorite quotation: "To whom much is given, much is expected."

If you could meet anyone else (any time in history), who would it be? "Amadeus Mozart"