Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, Professor Hopeton Dunn, has renewed calls for the broadcast media to uphold the highest standard in their output.

The Broadcasting Commission joins the media fraternity in expressing sadness at the passing of Chad Young, Chairman of the Grove Broadcasting Company, operators of IRIE FM & ZIP103 FM. Under his leadership, IRIE FM and ZIP 103 FM maintained a leading presence on the airwaves and were active participants in the Commission’s quarterly meetings with broadcast licensees.

Innovations, trends and challenges in a changing media environment will be placed on the front burner come Tuesday, when the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) hosts a one day conference, dubbed 'The Future of Media and Regulation in Jamaica'.

INSIGHT INTO the future of media and regulation was provided at a Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica regulation conference at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston last week.

FORMER senior executive at CBS, FOX and Universal Studios Neal Lemlein has said that the media marketplace is in a state of genuine upheaval, as the digital evolution demands media professionals to dramatically alter the way that programming content is delivered to consumers.

In 2009 there were numerous objections to directives meted out by the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) directives, but since then, the organisation's executive director, Cordel Green, says major strides have been made.

Over the last two years, since 2012, the Broadcasting Commission has been in correspondence and meetings with all broadcasters and cable providers about their coverage range and signal quality being delivered to towns, communities and villages throughout Jamaica, in line with the terms of their licences.

Further to active regulatory oversight by the Broadcasting Commission, CVM Television has reported that it has now taken additional measures to upgrade its signals both directly to homes and via a network of local cable providers, in order to enhance the station's coverage in the areas affected by poor quality reception.

The Broadcasting Commission notes, with concern, a misleading article in today’s edition of the Gleaner titled “Does anyone care about how public funds are spent?” That article wrongfully accuses the Commission of not holding itself accountable, on an apparent erroneous basis that the Commission is not up to date in producing its Annual Reports and Annual Audited Financial Statements.

This article examines two main issues that
are very much interconnected: regulations
governing foreign ownership of broadcast
media, and copyright laws