Productions: Island Beat
Panoscope . Media Briefings .
Island Beat . Our Own Voice . Le P'tit Nouvelliste
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About Island Beat
Community news from the Caribbean is getting a voice. "Island Beat,"
a series of radio programmes as well as print features, investigates
community themes relating to environmental, health, gender and social
justice issues. It documents in particular community experiences
in finding solutions to local development problems. The series is
produced by both senior and junior reporters throughout the Caribbean
and aims to increase the quantity and quality of reporting on these
topics. Untill now, the radio format of "Island Beat" is presented
in English only, while the print features are made available in
Creole, English, French and/or Spanish.
"Island Beat" was first launched in 1997 as a weekly
English-language radio series, produced and disseminated by the
Caribbean
Environmental Reporters Network (CERN, based in Barbados), the
Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI, based in St. Lucia
and St. Croix) and the Panos Institute of Port-au-Prince and Washington,
DC.
The series is formally entitled "Island Beat - News from the
environmental frontline of the Caribbean." Major themes that
have been covered so far include waste management, community forestry
and afforestation initiatives, the employment of women, organic
farming, HIV/AIDS, sanitation, migration issues, sustainable fisheries,
environmental education and awareness, children, the establishment
of natural parks and protected areas.
The radio series is edited in Jamaica by members of CERN (contact:
western@jamaicaobserver.com),
while the print series is currently produced in Port-au-Prince by
the Panos Institute (contact: panosinstcarib@aol.com).
Because the correspondents of the series are located in widely
dispersed islands and countries, digital technologies are being
used to provide the audio as well as print reports to the editors.
These technologies prove to be very appropriate to the Caribbean.
Many radio correspondents record their reports on conventional sound
equipment, but "mail" the digitized pieces by electronic
mail to Jamaica, where the editing is also done on computer in digital
fashion. These techniques avoid the decrease in sound quality (which
would happen with the copying of audiotapes) and save mailing and
editing cost as well.
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