Broadcasters from the Caribbean Europe and North America have endorsed the potentials of New Media and Digital Journalism, but warned of the threats this could pose to quality and accuracy of reportage.
During a workshop entitled “Digital Journalism” on the second day of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) 44th General Assembly in Georgetown, broadcasters shared varying views about the potential of new media.
Gary Allen of RJR Group in Jamaica, said his company is full on board with new media, but warned that whatever is shared across the web must be verified.
He urged regional journalists to transfer the basic journalistic ethic to new media, since the standards of journalism remains the same across any platform.
Edward Layne, a Senior Editor with Guyana’s National Communications Network (NCN), called for there to be a regional policy to ensure uniformity and adherence to journalism standards in the new media.
He pointed to the many sources through which information are dumped on the internet, many of which sometimes are not verified.
Meanwhile, Head of the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) of Guyana Valmiki Singh, urged regional broadcasters to prepare for the inevitable regulation of the internet in time to come, noting that the need to regulate the internet is recombining more and more critical.
Several Caribbean broadcasters indicated that they are already putting rules in place to ensure that the employees are in adherence to basic journalism principles, when using the internet.
There were also other presenters who dealt with issues relating to monetizing websites and making maximum returns from web-based content.
The five day Assembly ends on Friday August 25.
