Almost nine years ago, I was part of a panel discussion on CMC moderated by Jessica Odle. The other panelists were Keith Nurse, Caribbean academic renowned for various studies done on regional entertainment and cultural industries and the late Eddie Toulin, the prime mover behind the Creole Festival in Dominica.

The topic of our discussion –The role of cultural industries in regional development — brought out the passion in all the panelists who felt that sufficient attention was not being paid to the enormous growth potential inherent therein. The programme was carried live in several territories across the region and many nationals called in to weigh in on the discussions. I felt as if I were really a part of the Caribbean through the programme.

During the discussion, I noted that a fundamental requirement of Caribbean integration and the development of regional cultural industries was the establishment of a media platform which would reach the people across the Caribbean and West Indian communities in Europe, North America and elsewhere. I cited the absence of appropriate media structures with the requisite reach in diasporic communities as one of the central challenges in marketing our products internationally. Can you imagine what Jamaican and Caribbean music could have attained had we the appropriate media structrues for its promotion?

Reggae music received a phenomenal boost with the advent of Irie FM and Jamaican culture and music has never been the same since. Yet what is needed is an Irie FM (of an audiovisual variety) with international reach. It was against this background that I was indeed heartened and saddened by the recent pronouncements made by Mia Mottley.

I was saddened because there have been people like me, my friend, Josanne Leonard in Trinidad and Elombe Mottley who have been crying out for such an entity for well over a decade now. I’ve had several discussions with Jamaican ministers of government on the feasibilty of establishing such a media entity. Some such as Burchell Whiteman and KD Knight seemed to have had an instinctive understanding of the importance of such a venture. However, as Caricom has demonstrated, getting things done on a regional level is not exactly a walk in the park.

Of course there was always the CMC with the promise of fulfilling these objectives. However, whether through failure of management and an absence of vision, the CMC has become primarily a conduit for doling out broadcast rights for international sporting events to television stations in various territories across the Caribbean. This does not sound like a model consistent with the promotion of regional development to me. As Ms Mottley noted in her presentation and I have said repeatedly, it is difficult if not well nigh impossible to forge a Caribbean identity without an attendant media structure. The sad fact is that most of us are more abreast of what is happening in Louisiana or Nebraska than we are with developments in neighbouring Caribbean territories.

Caribbean people are wedded to their individual nations because this is where they find their identity. Where is the mechanism to promote the Caribbean state of mind? We have not been able to effectively build regional brands because of this deficiency. When I go Barbados I drink Banks and when I go Trinidad I must be content with Carib. The iconic Red Stripe is largely absent. I walk into supermarkets and am unable to find Grace products on the shelves. I am in a state of shock.

A well structured media entity catering to the needs of Caribbean nationals could easily deal with this imbalance. True some national products which are protected would find themselves competing with other brands from across the region. The inefficient firms would flounder but the nimble ones would have a bigger domestic market which would serve as a springboard for true international competitiveness.

We would be able to promote our regional tourism in a cost effective manner as we would be able to reach diasporic communities without having to utilise some of the mainstream media outlets which are prohibitively expensive and which they hardly watch. Want to know what many Caribbean people watch in New York and the Tri State are? CIN, which showcases a Caribbean experience. Yet CIN is not a a channel or station in the true sense of the word. CIN provides Caribbean programming at specific times of the day on the public access channel. The question is why have we taken so long to address this matter?

clyde.mckenzie@gmail.com