The Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has denied reports that the regional grouping is planning to license journalists.Edwin Carrington, was reacting to concerns by media associations across the region about such a plan announced at a broadcasters' workshop on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) held in St Lucia two weeks ago.
Deputy Programme Manager for Services at the CARICOM Secretariat, Timothy Odle, said registering and licensing of journalists would become a reality within three to five years.
That prompted several media bodies in regional countries, and the umbrella Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), to tell CARICOM that it would not accept any such move and would fight it. But in a media release Carrington said he knows of no plans to license journalists and that he had made that "absolutely clear" to ACM President Wesley Gibbings in a telephone conversation earlier this week.
"All discussions have been related to criteria for acceptance as a journalist to ensure that bona fide journalists were the beneficiaries of free movement. There has never been any discussion about licensing," the Secretary-General said.
"The media is a vital partner in the advancement of the regional integration process and their continued responsible reporting, analysis and commentary are valued in going forward," Carrington said.
The Secretary-General noted that journalists were among the first categories singled out by Heads of Government in the Grand Anse Declaration of 1989 to be allowed the facility of free movement.
Carrington did not give an explanation as to why Odle made such an announcement if there is no plan for such a move.
No comments:
Post a Comment