“Our Jamaican stories are rich and can be shown across the world. Television is a method of distribution, just like social media, radio, and billboards. At the end of the day, it comes down to our content, and the content that we produce and the stories that we tell are universally impactful,” noted Delano Forbes, CEO and Creative Director of Phase 3 Productions, while participating in a panel discussion organized by CARIMAC in recognition of World Television Day on Monday, November 21, 2022.

Forbes was joined by some other ‘movers and shakers’ in the television industry - Judith Alberga, Homegrown and Content Monetization Manager at Television Jamaica (TVJ); Sharon Schroeter, Senior Managing Director/Senior Producer at Benchmark Media Productions Ltd. and Rory Roberts, Talent Manager, Co-Writer, and Co-Director at Barracks Entertainment.

On the theme of ‘Local Content, International Value’, the panelists underlined the relevance of television in today’s seemingly social-media obsessed world. They noted that television and social media are alike because they are both effective avenues to tell stories, but television is more ethically structured, and it works better to produce a well-ordered society. The discussion further led to the prospects of more Jamaican, and to a wider extent, Caribbean content, entering the international market.

“We could definitely get more international recognition if we were to have some reruns of our classic television programmes and provide English and Spanish subtitles,” said Judith Alberga.

She continued, “A lot of our programmes use the Jamaican dialect and even though our international watchers enjoy this, I know that the language barrier can create some misunderstanding and less appreciation for what we are communicating. This panel discussion is necessary to voice these things so that we in the business and other television practitioners can make greater efforts to increase the international value of our local content”.

Also participating at the event were Saeed Thomas, President of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA) and Dr. Livingston White, Director of CARIMAC, who brought remarks and the welcome respectively.

The event was organised by final year Public Relations students at CARIMAC and hosted by Isheba “Energy Queen” Cornwall with support from  Newstalk 93 FM, Digicel, Sage Network by Sagicor, Benjamins, Juici Patties, Red Bull, Gabby Glam, Nature’s Caress, Beads of the Fae, Café Blue, Lloyds Decor & Rental, 876 Sunnies, Shemle’s Photography, Polar Ice and Tastee.