Information Minister Hails CARIMAC

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, has hailed the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) for the seminal role it continues to play in preparing the region’s media practitioners.

She noted that by equipping them with crucial skills, journalists have been able to execute their craft throughout the Caribbean and the wider world.

“CARIMAC has prepared hundreds of media and communication practitioners to serve not only media entities but many institutions of Government and private sector within the region and the world. Perhaps, most importantly, CARIMAC has helped to sow the seed that has nurtured the quest for the true freedom of the press,” she said.

Ms. Falconer, who is herself a graduate of CARIMAC, was speaking at the institution’s 40^th anniversary gala banquet on October 25 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

She noted the importance of CARIMAC in ensuring a free and fair Caribbean press.

“As a region, we face many challenges and we will need a strong, free and fair media, which will be watchdogs. For that to happen, we need a strong and fearless CARIMAC,” she said.

She informed that since its existence in the 1970s, CARIMAC has grown into a highly respected regional institution, which has played a powerful role in developing the media and communications industry.

Minister Falconer further said that under the leadership of Professor Hopeton Dunn, the institution will continue to transform, while adapting to technological changes, to ensure that students will continue to be trailblazers in their respective fields.

For his part, Minister of Tourism, the Bahamas, Hon. Obediah Wilchcombe, said that media practitioners have an awesome responsibility in assisting the growth and development of their respective countries and the region as a whole.

He commended CARIMAC for continuing to introduce programmes “which can change the world”.

During the ceremony, Professor Fitzroy Augier, Mel Blake, Aggrey Brown (posthumous), Alma Mock Yen, Ralston Nettleford (posthumous), and Franklyn St. Juste, were honoured for distinguished service and dedicated commitment to CARIMAC.

Awards for visionary leadership in the establishment of CARIMAC went to  Arnold Foote, Theodore Sealy (posthumous), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/United Nations Development Programme (UNESCO/UNDP).