Contribution of the Research As a pioneering research in Journalism in the Caribbean, the work has made a contribution to the profession in the region. While specifically addressing the coverage by newspapers of economic globalisation, the contribution is applicable to all aspects of news coverage that are more general and generic to journalism in the region. Firstly, the findings that are drawn from a study based on newspapers are relevant to radio, television and new media journalism in the region. Secondly, the conclusions drawn from a study of economic globalisation are relevant to the coverage of business and the economy. Thirdly, the conclusions of the research also contribute to the development of a generic approach to specialist reporting that goes beyond the coverage of economic globalisation and business and the economy, and which efficiently can be applied to other areas of coverage. A significant contribution of the research is in pointing definitively to a need for the training and reorientation of editors and journalists to deal with the changing demands created by economic globalisation. The research has provided a basis for moving towards a new disposition among editors, news editors and newsroom managers that would: -
widen the appreciation of the pervasive nature of economic globalisation;
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see business and the economy as an increasingly important beat that should be covered;
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regard the coverage of economic globalisation and business and the economy as being less of what happens in cabinet meetings and corporate boardrooms, and more of the consequence to the people of the region;
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consider and exploit all opportunities for training and reorientation of reporters to cover economic globalisation and business and the economy;
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Allocate more resources towards coverage of business and the economy.
The research has provided a platform and a framework that can lead to a change in approach by journalists through training and reorientation that would: -
increase the capacity for identifying important developments in the region’s business and the economy;
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improve the competence for researching stories on business and the economy;
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create an approach to coverage that “joins the dots” between parochial and distant developments that are related;
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encourage the production of stories that go beyond a recording of the development, and which provides context, interpretation and analysis;
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produce information on business and the economy that takes the reader, listener and the viewer beyond the “news” and answers the question: “What does it mean?”
This contribution of this research is in providing the direction towards a new approach that significantly will lead to a qualitative improvement in business journalism in the Caribbean, and which would allow a changed attitude towards specialist reporting that can be applied to all aspects of journalism.