Media urged to embrace digital transformation at 2025 Caribbean Media Summit

The 2025 Caribbean Media Summit, opened Friday at the University of Guyana’s (UG) George Walcott Lecture Theatre, and brought together leading media professionals, academics, policymakers, and digital innovators from across the region, to chart a path forward for journalism in a rapidly evolving digi

tal environment.
Held under the theme “Evolving Media Business in Turbulent Times – AI, Journalism and the Future,” the two-day summit, coordinated by the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) in collaboration with UG and the Guyana Press Association (GPA), directly confronted the challenges of declining revenues, AI disruption, and shifting audience behaviours.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Paloma Mohamed Martin, delivered a clarion call for Caribbean media to adapt or face obsolescence. “Traditional news outlets must either leverage their unique strengths or undergo radical transformation to remain viable,” she declared, emphasising the need for media houses to harness emerging technologies responsibly while preserving journalistic integrity.
She introduced the concept of “QUUC” journalism — Quick, Understandable, Ubiquitous, and Comprehensive, asserting that this standard must become the industry’s new baseline, to survive in an age of ubiquitous content and algorithmic curation.
“Given the ubiquity of social media and the real-time dissemination of all forms of information, traditional news outlets must either leverage their unique strengths or undergo radical transformation to remain viable and relevant. The industry must explore new models to bring developing stories to the forefront swiftly. This may mean the creation of a new form of inter-organizational syndication. Journalistic investigation must now incorporate the myriad streams of information supplied by emerging technologies, which are sometimes employed in informal contexts.”
Meanwhile, keynote speaker and international media strategist, Juan Señor called for a “Hum-AI-ne” approach to journalism, warning against surrendering editorial judgment to artificial intelligence. “Truth should be emphasised over trends; news media is not social media,” he stressed. He urged journalists to revisit the fundamentals — accuracy, integrity, and public service, and to avoid chasing speed at the expense of insight.
“Real journalism is slow, deliberate, and essential,” Señor said, arguing that newsrooms should serve as trusted filters in a world saturated with content. He also pushed for smarter monetisation strategies, such as bundling content and targeting niche professional audiences, while remaining rooted in journalistic ethics.

Regional action and ethical AI governance
MIC President, Kiran Maharaj, underscored the urgency of collaboration, warning that 15–25 percent of regional advertising revenue is now captured by global tech platforms. She called on Caribbean media to develop equitable AI governance frameworks, and explore sustainable revenue models that align innovation with ethical journalism.
“This summit is a call to action,” Maharaj said. “We must persevere to serve the public good, even in the most turbulent times.”

Press freedom and public trust under threat
Further, Guyana Press Association (GPA) President Nazima Raghubir noted that the changing media landscape threatens the survival of independent journalism, citing the need for regional solutions that blend innovation and ethics. “This summit is an opportunity to shape resilient, regionally relevant strategies,” she told delegates.
The event, supported by ExxonMobil, Caribbean Airlines, and the United Nations Guyana, continued Saturday with sessions exploring Roadmaps for AI integration in Caribbean media, Revenue generation and content monetization, combatting disinformation and restoring public trust, and journalism’s evolving role amid social media and digital-first audiences.
Hosted by UG’s Centre for Communication Studies, these expert-led panels seek to provide actionable strategies to empower regional media, protect press freedom, and future-proof Caribbean storytelling.
The 2025 Caribbean Media Summit stands as a timely and unifying platform for confronting the existential challenges facing journalism, and for charting a bold, ethical, and collaborative path forward.