Overview & Purpose of Event
In the last few months, media experts have expressed their concerns regarding the degrading situation of safety of journalists in the Caribbean region.
In Jamaica, alerts have been raised concerning growing political pressure and hostility towards the press, causing the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) to issue a statement concerning the progression of mis- and disinformation attacks on media professionals and media houses, such as RJRGLEANER.
In October, the Guyana Press Association (GPA) denounced threats from the police forces, as the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the Guyanese police force, stated they would resort to a seditious libel law to go after journalists. Additionally, Guyana saw a surge of hostility against journalists from political figures. In the past few months, some media organisations have voiced their concerns over the harassment, assault or intimidation of journalists.
The political and societal instability in Haiti also sees journalists at risk, facing violent repression from gangs who attempt to silence their reports. At the end of December 2024, two journalists were killed and others were injured while covering an official event. The gravity of the situation also highlights the serious problems of impunity for violence against journalists that persist in Haiti.
While freedom of expression is constitutionally protected in most countries in the Caribbean, the protection of journalists and media organisation has remained complex with laws contradicting the principle of press freedom.
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Keynote Speakers and Presenters

Keynote Speaker: Justice Denys Barrow, Caribbean Court of Justice
Justice Denys Barrow is serving as a Justice of the Caribbean Court of Justice in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago since 2017. Justice Barrow’s judicial career included service as High Court Judge in St. Lucia, Grenada, Belize and the British Virgin Islands; Justice of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; and Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal of Belize. Justice Barrow is a graduate of the University of the West Indies with a Bachelor of Laws, and received a Legal Education Certificate from the Norman Manley Law School. During his legal tenure, Justice Barrow served as a member and then rapporteur of the International Labour Organisation’s Committee of Experts responsible for monitoring the application of international conventions on labour and human rights law.

Speaker : Anthony Greene, CBU President
Anthony Greene is a senior executive with 24 years’ experience in broadcast and print media. He is currently the General Manager at Starcom Network Inc., the leading broadcasting company in Barbados with four radio stations. Prior to his appointment as General Manager, he held the post of Programming/Content Manager from 2016 to 2021. Anthony also serves as a director on the boards of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Innogen Technologies Inc. and Pearl’s Dance Academy.
Anthony has a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication with First Class Honours from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and a Master of Science in Project Management & Evaluation with the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
One capstone early in his tenure as General Manager is the raising of the profile of Starcom Network as a high performing business within the One Caribbean Media group portfolio, though faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and other external challenges. During this period the company has also further strengthened its market share of radio listenership in Barbados.

Speaker: Kristian Porter, PMA CEO
Kristian Porter is the CEO of the Public Media Alliance, the largest global association of Public Service Media organisations.
Kristian has extensive experience working in public media support and advocacy, with a background in the NGO sector, editorial management, events, and as a journalist. He has worked globally in his roles for PMA and works with the association’s membership and partners to develop campaigns, relationships, strategies, research, and projects. He is a passionate advocate for media freedom, media independence and journalist safety, and sits on the steering committee for the Public Broadcasters International (PBI) conference and runs the secretariat for the Global Task Force for public media (GTF).

Speaker: Paul Hector, UNESCO
Dr. Paul Hector is the Advisor for Communication and Information within the UNESCO Office for the Caribbean. Dr. Hector started his UNESCO career in 2000 as part of the Competitive Young Professionals Program. Throughout his tenure at UNESCO, he has provided support to project initiatives and policy actions in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. These initiatives have facilitated access to information and knowledge for development through research, policy design and implementation, and action plan creation and have addressed information and knowledge gaps related to gender, language, literacy, island/rural living, and disability.

Moderator : Desilon Daniels, Projects & Advocacy Coordinator, PMA
Desilon Daniels is a media and communications professional with nearly a decade of experience in journalism, public relations, and advocacy. Her years in the Guyanese media landscape as a journalist and editor have resulted in several awards, such as PAHO/WHO and United Nations media awards. Desilon is also a 2019/2020 Chevening alumnus and graduated from the University of East Anglia with a Master of Arts in Media and International Development. She is currently employed as the Project & Advocacy Coordinator with the Public Media Alliance, the largest global association of public service media organisations, where she leads on the non-profit’s externally funded projects. Her interests span media development and the representation of minority groups in both media and development.

Presenter : Gary Allen, CBU Past President and PMA Board member
Gary Allen is the Group Senior Executive of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, Jamaica’s largest media network with print, electronic, new and social media entities numbering four radio stations, four television channels, two daily newspapers, over a dozen websites, numerous social media properties and the Caribbean’s first Over the Top Technology platform named 1spotmedia.
He is a media practitioner with over 35-years of experience in the industry. With a Diploma in Media and Communications from the Caribbean School of Media and Communications and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of the West Indies (Mona), he has worked at various management levels in media.
In 2015 he was awarded the National Honour of Commander of the Order of Distinction, for service to media and communications and in 2021 was inducted into the CBU Caribbean Media Hall of Fame.

Presenter : Ela Stapley, Digital Safety Lead, CPJ
Ela Stapley is the CPJ’s Digital Security Advisor working with the Emergencies team. She supports journalists worldwide with their digital security needs as well as writing all digital security resources produced by the Emergencies team. A former freelance journalist, Ela has worked in digital safety support for the media for the past ten years. She is the founder and director of Siskin Labs, a consulting company that works with organizations and individuals in high-risk digital security situations. She holds a Master’s in International Journalism from the University of Cardiff, UK and is fluent in Spanish.

Presenter : Dave Seglins, CBC/Radio-Canada
Dave Seglins is an investigative journalist and “Well-being Champion” with CBC News based in Toronto. He is a leading educator and advocate within the news industry and is co-author of a national study of +1200 Canadian journalists (Taking Care: a report on mental health, well-being and trauma among Canadian media workers, May 2022) He is a fellow of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma (Columbia University) and holds certificates in Global Mental Health (Harvard Medical School) and Mental Health First Aid (Mental Health Commission of Canada.)