KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Information, Robert Morgan, has challenged the Broadcasting Commission to adopt a five-step strategic model, dubbed ‘REACH’, as it seeks to remain pertinent and garner citizens’ support.

Morgan said REACH, which stands for Relevance, Evolution, Accessibility, Care and Homogeneity, will better enable the entity to execute its mandate to monitor and regulate the electronic media.

“The more ‘Relevant’ an entity is, the more important it is seen within the society. So, if you, as an entity or agency, do not contemplate in your mind your relevance, then what is going to happen is that, eventually, you will cease to exist,” he said.

“Also, we need to ‘Evolve’ to meet the new demands of society, because culture changes every single day. The music and culture continue to evolve, so you cannot remain static. ‘Evolution’ is a part of REACH and I think this is something that we have to think about as an entity, as a Government and as a people,” he added.

Morgan, who was addressing the Commission’s Strategic and Operational Planning Retreat in Trelawny on October 19, further urged the entity to devise programmes and initiatives to facilitate ease of ‘Access’ by the public.

He noted that this includes, for example, having a good website that is intuitive and straightforward, where the common man or woman can access information to learn more about the entity and its services to the Jamaican people.

He further cited the importance of having team members who are executing their tasks in a dutiful and ‘Caring’ manner.

“The demonstration of care is probably what will set BCJ apart from other government agencies, and I think this new decision you have made (the ban on illicit content) has really won the BCJ a significant amount of supporters,” Morgan pointed out.

He said that ‘Homogeneity’ speaks to the importance of consistency in government policies and approaches to executing these measures.

“So, part of the reason why we have entities like the BCJ, entities like the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), which are executive agencies, and other public bodies, is to maintain that type of continuity across administrations, to give people the assurance of consistency and stability,” he added.

The Broadcasting Commission’s Strategic and Operational Planning Retreat ran from October 18 to 20.

Over the three days, the entity’s leadership team engaged in corporate governance training, strategic planning and budgeting, among other focus areas.