The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr. Keith Rowley has called on journalists in the Caribbean to focus, investigate, interpret, educate and report on the development processes of their countries.
Feature address delivery at opening of 53st At the General Assembly of the Barbados-based Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) on Monday night, Rowley, a geologist who has spent 40 years in electoral politics, said he had been a close watcher of the media as he sought to made himself clear on the acute issue of development journalism.
“I believe that journalists, in what is loosely called the developing world, should see it, in their professional responsibility, to focus, investigate, interpret, educate and report on the development processes of their countries.
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“They must take ownership and be stewards, and given the history of the Caribbean, they must be understanding and sympathetic to the realistic challenges of new development processes,” said Prime Minister Rowley, who earlier in his speech had trace history of media meetings. back in 1622.
He told media executives from the English-, French-, Spanish- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean that most importantly, journalists must be able to perform their function in the new environment “without any guidance or interference from the government.
“As such they must cultivate and see their world, with the so-called ‘goldsmith’s eye’, interpreting, educating and helping their fellow citizens to find themselves and their interests in the wider world,” he said. , complaining, however “. I’m afraid this is not the journalism I see widely practiced
“It’s the journalism of ‘publish and be damned’, ‘Gotcha!’ or simple, “He/She said that” – all mostly without context or recorded history. A listener, reader or viewer is not helped or educated – in the democratic process, when a journalist has a story, then they look for a counterpoint. Full stop. This is her!
Dr. Keith Rowley said he wanted to suggest that journalists in the Caribbean should see “every story they write as reporting within the history and uniqueness of the Caribbean situation.
“What is argued as free and independent reporting, should be seen wider than the metropolitan model, or the context and that carries that flavor of “our western Indianism”.
“Also, journalists and journalism today must revisit, and continue to revisit, the volumes written on the dangers of cultural imperialism, and what it has done and continues to do to the minds of the West Indian people and their youth.
“I have much, much more to say, chairman, on this subject, for example. such as radio stations whose schedules are mostly American pop, or Gangsta, as opposed to meaningful and conscious West Indian music, art and drama. “
Prime Minister Rowley said that it is in this context that he applauds both UNESCO and the CBU for promoting the discussion on his theme “Media Education and Information in Journalism”, as a response to the clear and present dangers of disinformation and disinformation.
