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… Stop being copycats, promote more local content

BROADCASTERS approved by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) were invited by the body to participate in an exclusive stakeholder engagement meeting on Friday to discuss pertinent issues.

The meeting was limited to heads of a number of licensed broadcasting agencies, which met the criteria of the GNBA, and took place at the Herdmanston Lodge Hotel.
It marks the beginning of a series of engagement meetings which the body hopes will help to foster an interactive and harmonious working relationship between the GNBA and its stakeholders.

In his opening remarks, Chairman of the GNBA Board, Leslie Sobers, said that the meeting coincides with the authority’s regulatory mandate and vision to develop and maintain the highest standard of broadcasting countrywide.

As such, he welcomed the attendance and participation of those invited.
“It is our hope that with meaningful, robust participation from you, the GNBA will be in a better position to understand your perception of the broadcast industry, where it is heading, and where we want it to go,” he said.

Sobers encouraged those stakeholders at the meeting to reinvent their approach to public broadcasting by promoting values of patriotism and lifelong learning rather than imitating and presenting foreign cultures above their own.

“This (embracing of local culture), however, may never become a reality, if our philosophy for broadcasting in Guyana is to mimic foreign accents; focus on other nations’ celebrities, access and rebroadcast foreign content and simply for making money…” he said.

“We have to become aware of the power of the broadcaster and the broadcast industry to shape ideas, beliefs and attitudes towards this end; getting more Guyanese, particularly the youths, to become interested in our systems of government, their legal rights, their roles as citizens; pride in things Guyanese and pride in being, living and speaking as Guyanese.”

Aiding in the facilitation of the engagement were members of the GNBA Board, among them Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Prudence Lewis-Bhola; Communication Specialist, Dr Rovin Deodat; Attorney-at-Law, Joel Edmond; and former UNESCO Communication Specialist, Jocelyne Josiah.

Presentations were made on the functions and guiding documents of the GNBA, followed by a closed-group discussion where attending broadcasters were permitted to provide feedback and other concerns.