THIRD BIENNIAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN MEDIA WORKERS TO TACKLE BIG ISSUES

October 25, 2005 - Media practitioners from across the Caribbean will reflect on the state of the regional media and elect a new executive for the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers when they meet Friday November 4th, in Barbados.

Wesley Gibbings, the outgoing president of the ACM, believes the general meeting is being held at a critical juncture in Caribbean history.

“The meeting is happening at a very significant time for us in the region; we are going to recognize, sooner rather than later, that the challenges will
increase and our ability to deal with them, as an organised group of professionals, is going to become even more important,” Gibbings said Tuesday.

Several issues related to new media laws, the free movement of Caribbean media workers and the general challenges facing media practitioners are expected to feature prominently at the meeting.


DRAFT AGENDA

Opening Statement – President
Launch of Climate Change Handbook for Journalists – Tony Deyal
Special Presentations
Finance Report – Peter Richards, First Vice President
General Secretary’s Report – Clive Bacchus
Review of Country Reports – Wesley Gibbings
Resolutions
Other Business
Election of Officers for the 2005-2007 Term


About the ACM

Established in Bridgetown, Barbados on November 28, 2001, the ACM comprises media worker organizations and practitioners from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados,The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Suriname, St Maarten, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

In its brief history, the ACM has partnered with agencies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO), United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean (UNIC), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) on a number of professional development projects and seminars.

The ACM is also associated with the International News Safety Institute (INSI) and collaborates with Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), the International Freedom Exchange (IFEX), the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on matters related to maintenance of the free press.

The ACM also serves on the Advisory Council to the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.

Its President also sits on the Regional Advisory Board of the Jamaica-based Caribbean Institute for Media and Communication (CARIMAC).