Jamaica and Guyana Can Explore Cooperation in Media – Minister Morgan

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Information, Hon. Robert Morgan, says there is potential for Jamaica and Guyana to explore areas of cooperation in media.

Speaking following a tour of Guyana’s State-owned National Communications Network (NCN), on Thursday (May 2), the Minister said he was impressed with the country’s public and private media landscape, particularly the integration of technology in communication.

He said the countries could collaborate in the process to transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting, exchange ideas on how to manage the issue of misinformation and disinformation, and how to use social and new media to get more information out to the people who need it.

“There are other policy areas that we can discuss such as regulations and how to structure your media ecosystem to make it efficient,” he pointed out.

Minister Morgan said the Government of Jamaica welcomes the exchange of ideas with its Caribbean partners.

“Guyana has always been a friend to Jamaica, and Jamaica has always been a friend to Guyana and we recognise that there are things that Guyana can teach us, as well as things we can teach Guyana and we would welcome exchanges, more collaboration,” he noted.

Minister Morgan is in Guyana for UNESCO World Press Freedom Day observances, where he will participate in the ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which will see both nations deepening their bonds of friendship and collaboration through knowledge-sharing.

He will deliver the main address during an awards ceremony and media appreciation reception.

On Thursday, the Minister also participated in a panel discussion titled: ‘A Press for the Planet…Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis,’ where he highlighted the role of traditional media in providing the public with information they can use to protect themselves against the impacts of climate change.

“There is also the need for the media to be… the backstop against misinformation and disinformation which, in the case of climate change, can actually impact people’s ability to survive,” he noted.

“There are many portals out there that transmit information to the public, but there is only one area that we can guarantee as an obligation to be factual, fair and to work in the public’s interest, and that is the traditional media,” he contended.

“We are not disputing the need for new media in helping to extend the information to more people. We have to recognise that traditional media plays a very important role in terms of getting information, validating the content that is being sent out and reaching people who may not be able to analyse information in a more intellectual way, to protect them from the risks that are on various other portals,” Minister Morgan said.