Fixing T&T
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10:10 AM
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‘This is in no way related to the Activist group led by Mr. Kirk Waithe. While the objectives may be similar , the approach I would like to take is more related to a call to legislation of quotas of local content for radio, television, cinema and stage plays.
Why is such a call necessary….. because those that need to implement it won’t do it voluntarily.
In that light it needs to be legislated and fiercely enforced. There are many who say this is not necessary, that there is not enough local content to satisfy such legislation and there many more reasons or should I say excuses to be made for not doing it. I believe though that the reasons for doing it far outweighs the reasons (or excuses) against it.
How can this legislation for quotas and enforcement of it “fix T&T”?, you may ask, well I will try in what follows to show just that. Last Saturday I sat looking at Bet’s “ Black Girls Rock” and something said by the creator of “Girl friends”, “The Game” and “Being Mary Jane” Mora Brock Akil in her acceptance speach caught my attention. She said, “The human spirit needs validation”, we need to see ourselves in print , our music and on our screens.
We need to see representations of ourselves created by ourselves, so they tell our stories. And not the story others tell us about ourselves.” We need to see ourselves. When we see ourselves we are reminded of our humanity, of our existence, and that we are worth rooting for”. Upon hearing this it all clicked why the need to legislate quotas was an absolute necessity so that we as Trinbagonians would be able to see and hear ourselves in stories told by us. Quotas would insure this.
Now lets look at this in various ways, first of all lets us look at the economic benefits. Quotas would ensure more money is made by the makers of music and content for Cinema and television. At present COTT says close to 80% of its royalties collected goes out of the country. If quotas were legislated a greater percentage of those funds leaving the country would stay right here. This money could then be reinvested into their respective industries to make more, music, more film and content for television. This money could also be used to improve the quality of product being produced. It would also mean in Cinema and Television that the money spent on foreign content would stay here in Trinidad, to the benefit of our local economy.
Lets look at diversification of the economy. If the above takes place, we would have the strong development of the creative industries sector. Worldwide the creative industries sector if one of the fastest growing sectors, I think the following statement supports this, "There is a sudden realization in Europe now that a country or continent with a strong movie and broadcasting industry will be strong in the next century, and those without these industries will be weak," said Daniel Toscan de Plantier, the president of Unifrance.
Now lets look at the impact it can have on our youth. Many of the creators in music, film and the arts are young people. If this sectors were to grow by leaps and bounds, it would attract more of our youth to it. It could provide a viable alternative to gang life, thus making an impact on reducing crime. Again to quote Mora Brock Akil, “The human spirit needs validation” and We need to see ourselves, when we see ourselves we are reminded of our humanity, of our existence and that we are worth rooting for”. This would ensure that our youth have a greater self worth, a greater humanity, a greater value for life and all of this can easily translate into a greater love of self and country, all qualities greatly needed in our youth today.
Another reason why it should be done, is that it works. Here are some of the countries using quota systems, Australian broadcasters are required to broadcast a certain percentage of Australasian content. Similar domestic content quota laws also exist in the Philippines, Mexico, Nigeria, Israel, South Africa, Jamaica, Venezuela, and New Zealand. Quotas also apply in the Republic of Ireland and France.
Many of these countries have seen the growth of the creative industries with many Canadian, French, New Zealand and now African musicians, actors and actresses are now finding international success.
So I contend quotas can work positively for T&T and go a long way to “Fixing T&T.
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