WACC President Embert Charles chairperson of the Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre in Saint Lucia, was one of two WACC partners participating in the 57th Annual General Assembly and 37th Media Awards of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union. He reflects on this gathering of the principal regional association of broadcasters and media organisations across the Dutch-, English-, French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.

The most recent Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) annual general assembly and conference, held in Guyana in August, focused on the challenges to Caribbean media and culture from the expanded usage of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and of course the rights and freedoms of citizens and media professionals.

Caribbean Broadcasting Union Secretary General Sonia Gill is flanked by (l) Suzanne Francis Brown, widow of Aggrey Brown, and (r) Donna Singh-Ramsammy, daughter of the late Rickey Singh, following the induction of both men posthumously into the Caribbean Media Hall of Fame in August 2026. Photo courtesy of Embert Charles.

These are issues that are central to the work of WACC within our eight global regions. It was by no coincidence that the two giants of Caribbean media posthumously inducted into the CBU Hall of Fame in 2026 were Prof. Aggrey Brown and Rickey Singh, both of whom were close to WACC.

Aggrey was a longtime director of the Caribbean School of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, who already spoke of the pros and cons of AI way back in 1983. Rickey was a political journalist and the editor of the newspaper Caribbean Contact, published by the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC). They both were among the architects of the “Caribbean civilization” project, a core foundation course at the University of the West Indies and exploration of the intersection between Caribbean cultures & mass communication technologies.

Aggrey participated in WACC events in his capacity as CARIMAC director. The CCC was a WACC partner in the 1980s and 1990s, and it was through this partnership that I received a WACC scholarship in 1983 to study at CARIMAC, under the tutelage of Prof. Brown. Thus started my journey with WACC. At CARIMAC I became a member of a family of Caribbean media professionals, with whom I reconnected at the Guyana conference in 2026.

And while I was presenting at the CBU assembly this year, as WACC president, now in the twilight of my journey with WACC, newly minted CARIMAC graduate Leon Lewis was starting his journey with WACC. This partnership must continue. For the second consecutive year, the CBU embraced the participation of WACC in their annual assembly and conference. This has set the basis for strengthening and formalising engagement on issues of communications justice in the era of AI.

Digital sovereignty – A matter of cultural survival

While AI issues have been explored at numerous fora and gatherings worldwide, it is worth mentioning that the CBU delegates agreed that there are many professional decisions which should not be left to AI tools, otherwise the Caribbean people – and culture – may soon be unidentifiable within the global community.

One of the interesting features of the gathering was an exhibition of electronic communications and media technology from the old to the present. This display was juxtaposed by the intense conversations about good and the bad of AI. It was an indication that the leadership of the CBU is putting the issues into the proper context to guide the outcomes of the deliberations. This was symbolic and a metaphor for the Caribbean media journey.

While we are constrained by lack of financial resources, we are driven by our quest for excellence, hard work, and dedication. This is the story of organisations like the Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre in Saint Lucia and the CBU. We have done a lot.

Among the significant takeaways from the conference was the need for the Caribbean region to continue digitizing the content of the broadcast organisations into a regional data set to be made available to train AI toots. This will result in an authentic representation of Caribbean culture in the internet.

The Guyana conference was a rewarding experience as we reconnected with practitioners from traditional and new media who are working on many development issues including climate justice and human rights. At the 2027 conference the delegates and partners will be discussing the issues related to the viability of Caribbean media. There will be a place for WACC in the conversation.

Our partners representing WACC at the CBU events took part through our Communication for All Program (CAP), with support from Bread for the World – Germany.

The Hon. Kwame McCoy, MP, (Guyana) addresses the 57th Annual General Meeting of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union; seated are speakers (l to r) Embert Charles (WACC), the Hon. Erwin Jay Saunders (Turks and Caicos Islands), and Cleveland Thomas (International Telecommunication Union), with CBU President Anthony Greene. Photo courtesy of Embert Charles.