ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (GIS) — Local and regional broadcasters and newspaper editors are meeting in Grenada to discuss the free movement of skilled persons and other issues related to the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). This week’s workshop, financed by the European Development Fund, is  organised  by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which is trying to engage media workers in attempts at “demystifying the integration process” and in spreading the positive messages and benefits of regional integration.
The featured address at the official opening of the workshop on Monday at the Flamboyant Hotel was delivered by Senator Arley Gill, Minister of State with responsibility for Information, Information and Communication Technology, and Culture.
He described Grenada as an “unwavering” supporter of Caribbean integration. It is a cause that generations of Grenadian leaders – including the “Father of West Indian Federation,” T.A. Marryshow – have championed, Gill said.
“Our current Prime Minister, Honourable Tillman Thomas, is also an unabashed regional integrationist,” said the Junior Information Minister. “We are clear, crystal clear, that the survival and development of the Caribbean depend on us working closer together, and not separately as lone rangers. There are regional and international challenges that could only be overcome by a united approach. It is in this context that Grenada welcomes the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.”
Among this week’s workshop participants and presenters are the Secretary General of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Patrick Cozier;  Programme Manager at the CSME Unit, Ivor Carryl ; CSME Coordinator, Grenada-born Oliver Joseph; and Dr Canute James, Director of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communications of the University of the West Indies.
Jamaica-born Dr James said “there is an information deficit when it comes to the people of the region knowing what is happening.” He suggested an approach to information dissemination that provides context, in which issues are explained, translated and demystified “for those whom we’re telling the story.”
Cozier referred to the CSME as one of the most “important public policy documents,” which requires a “continuous communication process.”
“CSME cannot work unless there is buy in at the citizenry level,” said the Barbadian communicator.
He urged the delivery of information in a language that makes people “understand what the CSME is all about,” and allows them to make “informed decisions” about the integration process.
Gill said it is impossible to educate Caribbean people about regional integration without the assistance and involvement of the print and electronic media, including the internet.
“To succeed, however, it is necessary to examine at the regional and local levels how information is shared and disseminated,” Sen. Gill suggested. “News and information today are plentiful and moving at lightning speed. News and information, therefore, from the CARICOM Secretariat or the OECS Secretariat must be transmitted speedily, or must be easily and quickly accessible to those who need it for their news and feature programmes.”
Journalists, reporters and broadcasters also have a professional responsibility to keep abreast of all issues, including the CSME, Gill charged.
“It will put them in good stead to execute their sacred duties of educating the reading, listening and viewing public,” he explained.
The Senator also called for a rethinking of the traditional segmentation of news into local, regional and international slots, questioning whether the free movement of skilled workers under the CSME is a regional story or a local one.
“If it is treated as local,” he said, “can our journalists, reporters, broadcasters and editors find a way to more consistently treat CARICOM as part of the home front, and sensitise their readers, viewers and listeners that CARICOM and the OECS are not something out there, but something that is meaningful to our daily lives and our future development? That, to me, is the major challenge facing our media workers, and the challenge which this week’s workshop is trying to overcome.”