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The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica welcomes 2013…a new year full of challenge, promise, and possibility. Sometimes it helps to look back before heading into the future. With that in mind, here are some of the BCJ’s major milestones over the past three years:
- We heard you! Over the past three years, the Commission has headed out from its offices in Kingston to meet with Jamaicans from all walks of life. We’ve met with nearly 2000 people across the 14 parishes of Jamaica.
- We informed and educated! The Commission organised forums and conferences on a variety of issues relevant to the electronic media in Jamaica and the Caribbean, including the Regional Forum on Policy and Regulation in the Electronic Media Sector (2010), Payola and Anti-Piracy Seminar (2011), Financial Management Seminar for STVOs (Subscriber Television Operators, otherwise known as cable operators), and Digital TV Technical Seminar (2011).
- We did quality research! Research topics included IPTV and Mobile TV Regulation, Global Practice on the Treatment of High Value Content, the New Media Economy, the Economic Viability of the Jamaican Electronic Media Industry, the output of Jamaica’s Electronic Media, the Feasibility of Digital Switchover in Jamaica: The Consumer Perspective, and on The Feasibility of The Introduction of Digital Terrestrial Television in Jamaica. We also completed research to inform a new Jamaican Electronic Media Policy.
- We conducted a review of the Children’s Code for Programming (2003)! The Code established scheduling and rating standards for broadcast and cable TV to reduce the likelihood of exposure to children of harmful/inappropriate content. The review will continue in 2013. To date we have completed four focus groups involving more than 70 participants.
- We made Media Literacy a priority! With the support of our partners UNESCO, the Joint Board of Teacher Education, and the Ministry of Education we have developed curricula for Media Literacy to be formally implemented in schools and teachers colleges in 2013.
- Our Schools’ Outreach project has put us in contact with over 2500 students at primary and high schools across the island. Students learn about the opportunities and challenges of the digital environment.
- You volunteered, and we trained! Nearly 300 Jamaicans have volunteered and been trained as Citizens Media Monitors across the island.
- We’re on all platforms! In 2009, we revamped our state-of-the-art website. The revamped site was featured in “The Media Students’ Book,” published by Routledge Publishers in the UK. Our Facebook page was re-launched in 2012, andwas featured on facebookshowcase.net. It was praised for being “simple” and “bold.” Our Facebook page, blog, Twitter page and Google + pages are viewed by thousands of people daily.
- Fishbone! Need we same more? The public has embraced with gusto our radio and television campaigns which have included themes such as “Choice Comes with Responsibility,” “Under the Law,” and “I-Cat.” The I-Cat (aka Fishbone) TV ad in particular became a huge sensation, sampled by dance groups and recording artistes and went viral on Social Media sites like Facebook and YouTube.
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