CNMG

According to news reports, the National Carnival Committee (NCC) is due to announce which media house has won the tender for exclusive rights to broadcast Carnival events.  As a result, media houses may be setting themselves up for a repeat of the brouhaha between CNMG and Gayelle that occurred in 2010.

I know we've come to expect bacchanal for Carnival, but it doesn't have to be that way.  I'd like to suggest an alternative for NCC's consideration.

Some folks, including politicians, have been suggesting that the public should focus on why the SIA's alleged covert spying revelations were made last week, that no one should fuss because such electronic spying is an important tool in modern crime-fighting arsenals across the world and that the government has severely harmed our security agencies' ability to protect us.  With respect, that makes no sense.

They say a week is a long time in politics.  A week ago, I thought the main news item that would've occupied the front-burner would've been the Guardian's reporting of a top government official being fingered in an alleged conspiracy to wilfully pervert the course of public justice in relation to charges against two former People’s National Movement ministers.  Or the criticisms of Hon.

Sports Minister the Honourable Anil Roberts appearing on Power 102's Breakfast Drive indicated that government's subsidy to CNMG over the last two years amounted to about $60 million. If the state is to embark on public broadcasting then certain things need to be considered. By looking freshly at media's roles in any society credibility, veracity and agenda are critical.

Open Letter to Fazeer Mohammed,

Fazeer, once again I have to go through withdrawal symptoms, but this time it’s not your fault.  The last time it was the removal of your column in the Express.  Now, you’ve disappeared from First Up.

What the heck is going on?

I've just witnessed T&T's first national political debate prior to an election, televised live on CNMG's C TV (find the recorded video here).  Here are my initial views.

When Edmund Gall first wrote about the de facto monopolization of Carnival broadcast rights in Trinidad and Tobago (read it!), he mentioned friend Mark Lyndersay's point that it was more about control than optimization. When I wrote about the issue last night, I took the same tack.

I would just like to point out that I'm supporting Gayelle here in Trinidad, that someone suing for coverage of what is labeled a cultural event is reprehensible.

A few weeks ago, the T&T government decided to award sole rights to distribute coverage of major Carnival 2010 events to its own media house: the Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG).  On the face of it, this seemed sensible: award management of the distribution to a trusted partner.  However, though CNMG has been streaming its own programmes on the Internet for over a year at www.ctntworld.com, it proved to be completely unable to handle streaming of T&T Carnival.