The Caribbean Broadcasting Union invites media professionals, policymakers, private-sector partners and other stakeholders to register for the first online colloquium of the Caribbean Media Viability Initiative.

Caribbean media organisations are operating in an increasingly challenging environment shaped by changing audience habits, shifts in advertising revenue, emerging technologies, artificial intelligence and growing economic pressures. Recent closures and consolidation across the region have also raised important questions about the future of both traditional and digital media services.

This 90-minute online event will begin a regional conversation about the steps needed to build a more viable and resilient Caribbean media sector. Participants will receive insights into the business and regulatory environment affecting the industry, examine the factors influencing the sustainability of public-service and independent media, and consider practical pathways towards greater resilience.

The programme will feature a keynote presentation by Professor C Justin Robinson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus and moderated by Joseph Cox, Advisor to the Caribbean Media Viability Initiative

Participants will also hear from:

• Dr Claire Grant, who will present an initial summary of the Caribbean Media Industry Overview
• CBU President Anthony Greene, who will deliver the welcome remarks

The colloquium will include an audience question-and-answer session, providing participants with an opportunity to engage with the presenters and contribute to the wider discussion.

This event is the first activity in the CBU’s year-long Caribbean Media Viability Initiative. The programme will include additional solutions-focused colloquia, engagement with media and policy stakeholders, the public launch of the CBU Media Industry Overview and the development of a Caribbean Media Viability Roadmap.

Media professionals and stakeholders across the region are encouraged to take part and help shape practical responses to the challenges facing Caribbean media.

Professor C. Justin Robinson

C. Justin Robinson is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, a post he has held since Aug. 1, 2023, making him the campus’s third principal. He also serves as Pro Vice-Chancellor (PVC) for Academic, Industry Partnerships and Planning.

A national of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and a proud UWI alumnus, Robinson earned a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies with first-class honors from The UWI Cave Hill Campus, a Master of Science in Finance and Econometrics from Florida International University and a doctorate in Finance from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

Robinson brings more than two decades of institutional leadership to the role. He has served as head of the Department of Management Studies at Cave Hill, executive director of the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Board for Undergraduate Studies. He was also a member of the working group that established the Five Islands Campus in 2018.

A professor of Corporate Finance, Robinson’s research focuses on capital markets in developing countries, public finance, financial risk management and corporate finance. He is the author of more than 50 refereed publications in regional and international journals. Beyond his academic output, Robinson is a frequent commentator on Caribbean economic and geopolitical affairs. His 2026 article, “No One Is Coming to Save Us,” argued that the region can no longer rely on traditional partners for support amid a shifting global order and was widely circulated across regional media; he later expanded the theme into a public lecture series, “No One Is Coming to Save Us: The OECS in a Changing Global Order.”

Prior to his appointment as Campus Principal, Robinson led the implementation of UWI’s Multi-Campus Teaching and Learning Initiative, overseeing a two-year pilot from 2022 to 2024 that facilitates the sharing of teaching resources across the university’s five campuses. He also oversaw the rollout of The UWI Foreign Language Policy, which requires students entering the university from the 2022-2023 academic year to demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English before graduation.

Robinson is deeply committed to public service across the Caribbean. He serves as a director of the Central Bank of Barbados, a post he has held since 2008; a member of the Fiscal Responsibility Mechanism in St. Vincent and the Grenadines; a director of Jamaica Money Market Brokers International; and a director of West India Biscuit Company ( WIBISCO). He also serves on the Board of Directors of Caribbean Union Bank in Antigua and Barbuda. He chairs the Ratings Committee of CARICRIS, the Caribbean’s sole credit rating agency, and serves as first vice president of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society. He has also served as a financial adviser to the Barbados Credit Union League since 2009.