Speaking at the just concluded CARICOM summit the Guyanese president said such a service would counter both the negative reporting from the private media and the bombardment of the region by North American mass culture.
“Let the private sector carry the negatives,” Jagdeo said.
Jagdeo argued that the region is influenced by "subliminal messages almost taking us back to slavery". He suggested that CARICOM must reverse that trend. "If we don’t say the positive things about ourselves, we’ll be defined by others".
Trinidad and Tobago didn't object to the plan but questioned how it might be funded. Trade Ambassador Mervyn Assam said the money must come from the private sector because governments are already overburdened.
"We can only add a regional TV station to an already-overburdened CARICOM budget if an international agency funds it or the private sector,” Assam said.
“The idea may be laudable to try and improve communication and engage regional peoples, but the cost would be prohibitive and I don’t see the existing Caricom structure carrying it," Assam insisted.
Cost is indeed a concern. However with new technology it is possible to find a workable financing structure. There are several other problems with the "good news" idea, the most obvious of which is credibility.
It is clear that if the mandate of a CARICOM television service is to reflect the integration movement and its members in a positive light only, the reporting would have to be controlled and censored.
That would be dangerous since governments would lose the benefit of a free media that in principle is supposed to maintain checks and balances on the system and to represent the voiceless in society. In addition it would provide clearer justification for alternative media that would present the "negatives" that Jadgeo fears so much.
There is a valid argument of a media bias, usually against the government, in many CARICOM states. What Jagdeo seems to be saying is that the services he is advocating would operate alongside the private media to provide balance.
If that is the case then a regional "good news" tv service likely already exists since all governments operate communications agencies that deliver news of what the government is doing, in effect the "good news".
All that is required then is to coordinate the work of all these agencies to create a regional programming schedule that would be distributed among the regional states for broadcast on their respective state institutions.
The challenge, however, is not in creating the "good news" medium but in making it attractive so the messages are effectively conveyed to the target audiences. That requires creativity and a new and innovative approach to production.
Jagdeo's concern about imported mass culture is valid but the reality is that television owners across the region are under pressure from advertisers to broadcast foreign content. And media managers oblige because it is cheaper than investing in local programs.
Assam's idea of international or private sector funding won't fly. The private sector is profit oriented and would never invest in a controlled environment such as the one that Jagdeo is advocating. And international funding is usually too limited to sustain such a service.
What is really needed is for the respective states to differentiate between public information and news.
While the state may own a broadcasting institution and expect social responsibility from the media management it must also recognise that the PEOPLE are the true owners and they deserve a fair, balanced and objective picture of what is happening.
In that context, NEWS must remain unfettered with programming reflecting the nation building that is essential in societies such as ours.
Trinidad and Tobago already has the formula. Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) is the state-owned broadcaster and the Government Information Services Limited (GISL) is the communication arm of the government.
Both operate television services. CNMG can operate independently with no controls in its news and current affairs reporting while maintaining a keen sense of social responsibility in its regular programming.
And GISL will take its cue from the state in producing "good news" of what the government is doing and also develop new nation building local programming. GISL could become the model for Jagdeo's "good news" CARICOM tv station, but it must find the right formula to excite audiences with its work.
The challenges are enormous but so are the possibilities!
Jai Parasram | Toronto, July 8, 2011
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