September 2010

Marcia Forbes PhD

In order to determine whether we fit in or measure up, we compare ourselves with others who we perceive to be similar to us. The more favourable the comparison, the better we’ll feel about ourselves and the greater the boost to our self-esteem. Many of the people adolescents see in music videos are close to their age and in some cases are themselves adolescents. If only based on age therefore, adolescents have grounds for comparing themselves with these artistes. 

Marcia Forbes PhD

A regional trade agreement (RTA) is one entered into by countries wherein the parties align themselves for the purpose of achieving a pre-determined form of economic integration or for political and military concerns, as was the situation with the 1985 creation of the U.S.-Israel free trade agreement. An RTA is not necessarily based on geographical proximity of the participating parties. Under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/ World Trade Organization (WTO) system RTAs can only be entered into by countries which qualify as customs territories. These are those which exercise

Marcia Forbes PhD

 

The link between CSME and the post LOME IV Agreement, Cotonou, deserves some exploration if only to determine ways in which one can support the other. Despite the 1989 Grand Anse decision by CARICOM heads to establish a Single Market and Economy “

in the shortest possible time

”, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas which amended nine Protocols “

in order to create the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy

Marcia Forbes PhD
The road to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for China was not an easy one. While the challenges and circumstances are different, the road to CSME for the Caribbean region, particularly Jamaica at this time, is similarly difficult. It has been almost 18 years since Grand Anse and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. So too was China’s accession to the WTO a very long process, extending over a fifteen year period. But they got there! The terms of China’s protocol of accession (entry ticket) were more far-reaching than those of any other country. These are described as WTO Plus.
Marcia Forbes PhD

The dialogue regarding how best to arrive at a dispute settlement court to facilitate effective operation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) in light of the recent ruling of the Privy Council, should now be on in earnest. There is no sensible way to avoid the establishment of a properly constituted dispute body if the CSME is to appropriately function within its anticipated parameters.

Marcia Forbes PhD

Sex on TV seems de rigueur. In the USA there is now more sex than even on television. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a US philanthropic group, has an ongoing interest in sexual health among young people and the potential contributions of mass media to sexual behavior.

Marcia Forbes PhD

The first part of the title of this article was the topic of a presentation I watched on-line by a young, female Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie. It fired my imagination to apply the essence of her thoughts to Jamaica and our present conditions. She made the point that by showing a people as one thing over and over again, that is what they become. Many of us in Jamaica can easily relate to this as we consume the all too frequent images of our country as a ‘murder capital’, rife with dons, drugs and dancehall.

Marcia Forbes PhD

The recent launch of the timely and important book Media & Violence in Jamaica edited by Marjan de Bruin and Claude Robinson, not surprisingly, saw discussions regarding the influence of media on audiences. In the panel presentation I spoke to research findings pertaining to the subject and through this medium want to widen the dialogue.

Marcia Forbes PhD

‘Twits’ may be a better name for ‘Twitter’. It more aptly describes some of the ppl (internet language for people) and the things they do and say via the brave new virtual frontier of Twitter-sphere. Having been tweeting regularly for about three months, I confess that the point of it all continues to largely evade me. I keep at it though, since tweeting is now an integral aspect of social networking, a subject which is of great interest to me. Everyday I try for about eight tweets and for all that work I am blessed with the grand number of about 60 followers.

Marcia Forbes PhD

Advertisers buy ‘eyes and ears’. Yet, if the all island media surveys by MRSL are to be believed, some advertisers may be having a hard time as audiences become increasingly fragmented, with some media houses failing to grow or actually loosing audiences. At the end of the day though, all marketers know that global audience figures do not tell the full story. Companies are usually more interested in time slots and programmes or in the case of newspapers, with the writers/colunmist.

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