There are approximately 26 radio stations currently operating in Jamaica. Of this amount the vast majority are commercial entities focused on pop culture and headline news content. Less than ten are community broadcasters and even so, they are struggling to meet basic bills for light and equipment let alone investments in content development and capacity development. Whereas these stations are hugely popular in their communities, their lack of broadcast skills and capacity, prevents them from providing the communication support for community development required by their citizens.
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UNESCO field offices: Kingston
The Caribbean has a varied level of media development, with Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica being the most sophisticated and Dominica and Guyana the least. Within the territories and countries of CARICOM (the Caribbean Community), there are about 25 local terrestrial stations and 60-100 cable channels. Radio licences exceed 300 and there are more than a dozen daily print newspapers and 5 weekly publications as well as on-line dailies and weeklies, all serving a population of about 6 million. There is a mix of private and state owned broadcasters with the latter dominating in some...
Suriname has 19 television stations, 34 radio stations, 4 newspapers, 9 community radio stations, approximately 10 journals and about 9 new media news sites. The State owns 1 radio station 1 one television station. The rest of the media is privately owned. About 150 journalists are working at the media. The media sector employs mostly ‘self-made’ media workers who largely need to be educated and trained. This need also originates from a strong increase in the number of news media in the previous years and consequently also the number of required journalists. The purpose of the media in...
None of Belize’s junior colleges or universities provide formal journalism training, despite a growing demand for journalists. Consequently, most of the country's journalists enter the profession with an education in a different field and may not possess the skills and competencies required to be competent journalists. The Organization for the Promotion of Youths in Journalism (OPYJ) is concerned about this situation and has been working with interest youths to help them secure scholarships to study journalism abroad. However, due to limited resources, it has only been able to secure such...
Portsmouth, one of the most populous communities in Dominica, has limited access to media since there are no community-owned outlets serving that region and only limited low-cost options available. This project will therefore provide the necessary equipment and training to establish a community-owned radio outlet. The station is projected to reach over 6,000 listeners across the town of Portsmouth and its environs. It will empower citizens by enabling immediate and affordable access to information on relevant issues as well as the promotion of culture.
While there is a large and varied media market in the Caribbean region, most outlets are regulated by the state and are subject to defamation laws. Regional, national and international media workers’ associations have been advocating the relaxation of the libel laws across the region in order to facilitate more robust scrutiny of public officials. This relaxation process requires individual media markets and a code of practice so that a public complaints body can be established. This project will establish/strengthen media self-regulatory systems in the Caribbean region by developing a...
The Maroons, a group residing in Jamaica’s Accompong State, face development challenges concerning education and the dissemination of cultural heritage. The establishment of a community media outlet could address these challenges, although this has not been possible due to a lack of adequate financial and human capital. This project therefore seeks to launch a sustainable community radio station in Accompong that will allow residents to formally capture and share their cultural heritage.
The Curaçao media landscape can best be described as rich. It is rich in the sense that there is an overwhelming amount of media for such a small island. Two daily newspapers La Prensa and Amigoe are most popular. There is a government run television station TeleCuraçao which provides information and entertainment. Three radio stations Radio Hoyer, Easy FM and Dolfijn FM serves the island country with its coverage. Social media and citizens’ media are quite active and vibrant in the country and provide much needed boost in democratic participation of the citizens. However, there is an...
Jamaica has a vibrant radio media sector with twenty stations offering service, the majority being nationwide offering vast selections of music, phone in programmes and news. The sector is highly competitive, but driven by the dictates of the advertisers. The specific needs of communities driving development are only catered for by three radios, including Jet FM which serves rural Jamaica. Jeffrey Town Farmers Association, (JTFA) set up and launched Jet FM in 2008, and has been recognized as one of the best in Caribbean for its efforts at community development using media and recognized by...
The Caribbean has a varied level of media development, with Trinidad and Jamaica being the most sophisticated and Dominica and Guyana the least. This is a function of internal capacity and reflects in the local content production, quantitatively and qualitatively. The Caribbean TV landscape is almost totally dominated by imported U.S. Television, and there is also a clear and urgent need for production capacity building for both men and women producers in order to foster greater capability for the region to develop more in the area of freedom of expression.
Two of the main...
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