Broadcasting Commission dealing with digital matters

As it celebrates 25 years of existence - and Cordel Green has been executive director since 2001 - it is grappling largely with matters of the digital domain.

Green points out the fluid nature of the electronic media sector the commission is responsible for dealing with and how it has to adapt to the changing scenarios.

"The commission is an organisation that is never in stasis. It deals with issues as they emerge. New issues have emerged over the 25 years, requiring different approaches. This commission is no less concerned about the electronic media sector than the first commission. But the issues that faced the first commission that was established aren't the issues facing us now," he said.

Although it was only 25 years ago, the matters that first commission grappled with may seem archaic and minuscule now. Green said "the first commission, for example, had the benefit of a smaller sector to deal with. It was regulating RJR and JBC. It was dealing with two stations steeped in the history of broadcasting, where broadcasting conventions guided them. They took their cue from the BBC."

However, with divestment came the current slew of stations on the FM dial, and on television there was regularisation of cable. "As times change you find that what the commission is called upon to deal with will also change. So earlier commissions would have grappled with the cable sector being unregulated, and that would have been the big issue for them as a commission and they would have done the work to regularise cable in Jamaica, which was no easy feat," Green said. "Looking back, it looks like it would have been easy. It was difficult."

Policy issues would have faced subsequent commissions, as they looked at the formulation of the legal framework.

However, Green assesses that, "It would be fair to say this has been one of the most active commissions, simply because of the confluence of issues that it has had to be dealing with. It is the commission that has to be grappling with the digital space and the upheaval that has been created for the communications sector and approaches to regulation. It is the commission that has had to be dealing with managing an ever-expanding broadcasting landscape that is now moving into mobile TV, independent programme providers on cable channels, digital cable, media literacy issues that we have taken on."

Plus, there are the long-standing issues that have to be dealt with, Green pointing out that "Payola is not a new invention, but the impact of payola now on the music business and on the broadcasting sector is at a level which now requires activism on the part of the Broadcasting Commission. The same can be said about quality of output, which led a broadcasting commission as early as 2003 to begin looking at codes of practices, which led to the children's code for programming."

Digital the future

And he says in 2004 a commission was looking at the impact of digitisation, "even before it became vogue and which has led the whole process of transitioning to digital television".

Green says the digital space "is foremost now, for us and most regulators".

In accordance with that digital imperative, with "digital being the future and, in a sense, the future already being here," the commission's 25th anniversary theme and platform moving forward is 'People Transitioning Digital'". Two of the commemorative activities target youth - one is a $250,000 grant to a university-level student "doing research on anything touching on the digital futures".

There is also going to be high school, prep and primary school activities, the youngest being able to enter a poster competition on 'The Future is Digital'. High school students will be involved in an essay competition on the same theme.

- M.C.