Barbados needs tenacious journalists, vibrant media

As Barbadians prepare to usher in a new year, people will, expectedly, become reflective and think about how they could possibly improve their lives in 2025.

As a national news publication seeking to keep citizens informed of the many events and circumstances that are of import, we at Barbados TODAY have sought to remove the veils, shift the obstacles and bring to our readers sometimes the unvarnished and uncomfortable truths. 

Our team has also been mindful of the fact that the arts, entertainment, and cultural activities are also critical areas that require coverage and attention.

The local media ecosystem has evolved extensively, and like the rest of the world, traditional media on the island struggle to maintain the advertising base that ensures the sustainability of the product and the people who bring the news.

It has been argued that the people want shorter, more visually impactful news. While this may be so, a discerning Barbadian public will certainly not be well-served by reducing important and valuable information to sound bites and click-bait headlines.

Despite the shortcomings of the local media, their valuable role will not diminish. What will be required are strong media owners and managers who are prepared to do the hard work and support the efforts of reporters who are out on the beat gathering and preparing the news.

Reporters in print and broadcast require increased and continued training; they require exposure and exchanges in much more sophisticated operations so that they may enhance their skills and depth of delivery of this most valuable service to our population.

The turbulence of 2024, some say self-inflicted, took with it one of the most iconic names on the Barbados media landscape, the Barbados Advocate. 

Today, the tangible history of 129 years of reportage remains precariously situated in a building prone to decay from neglect, where the electricity has seemingly been disconnected, and the physical gates have been left wide open for any lawless itinerant to enter.

The delicate pages of newspaper bonds reflecting the journalistic efforts from 1895 are said to be deteriorating as the legal battles over the property languish in the courts.

With the demise of the Grand Old Lady of Fontabelle, it will be left to the remaining two daily publications on the island to deliver on the high expectations of Barbadians. 

There are too many matters of consequence occurring that require the interrogation of an activated fraternity of journalists.

Despite the challenges, the environment demands that the island should have courageous, bold journalists with dogged determination, who will ask the tough questions and stay the course, for the sake of society and good governance.

According to journalism.co.uk, strategic consultant and academic Lucy Kueng asserted that the “creator economy” will eat more of the media industry. Kueng also argued that this shift is affecting sectors – from news to broadcasting, with one in five Americans obtaining their news regularly from news influencers rather than trained and experienced journalists. 

More than ten per cent of content on connected smart TVs in the US is now from YouTube, and this represents an increase from six per cent in 2021.

“Structural decline at storied brands continues. While niche media thrive, turnarounds will remain elusive for some big generalist news brands, as we are seeing at CNN, The Washington Post, and The Observer. 

“This is Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma playing out in real-time. Dismantling old ‘structures’ – from cultural assumptions to products and workflows – while simultaneously building out new ones, in markets that are already overserved, is a herculean task.”

The profession of journalism, we assert, will evolve but it will not die, for the roles of journalists and the media are too vital to our civilisation.