BBC Caribbean RIP
It is with great sadness that I heard the news about BBC Caribbean being closed in the latest round of BBC World Service cuts.
Bush house, London photo courtesy of Redvers
It leads me to worry about the media coverage in Jamaica as the BBC’s news correspondent Nick Davies has also been returned to London. There is a big difference being there full time and living there, rather than flying in when there’s a big story to cover. The expertise and the daily news that will be lost will have consequences far beyond the loss of jobs and programmes. This relates to holding government and officials in Jamaica to account. The BBC were in a unique position to do this in a place where there is widespread intimidation by the police and by gangsters, protecting their interests at the expense of ordinary Jamaicans.
I’m a Conservative but I think that transferring funding of the World Service to BBC and as such forcing cuts to it, is completely wrong. As you say, the BBC is for many a vital way of getting unbiased news in some areas of the world.
Greetings from a Commonwealth cousin
(I’m a strong supporter of The Commonwealth, it’s a shame it’s not given more importance by the UK Government.)
[...] en Cuba [ES] and Jamaica Salt both note with sadness the BBC's decision to cut parts of its Caribbean service in a bid to [...]