The seminar will explore the television history of the Caribbean's southernmost island nation and examine the opportunities and challenges of local production in a media landscape dominated by foreign and particularly US-American content.

PhD researcher Rebecca Robinson (ASCA) will explore how Gayelle has provided a platform for local content through talk shows, music programs, news, and variety shows since its launch in 2004. Through a series of interviews with its founding director, Errol Fabien, she has examined the station’s efforts to create alternative content in a media landscape dominated by foreign programming. At the same time, she has explored the economic and management challenges that led to Gayelle’s decline in the course of the 2010s. Errol Fabien will join online to respond to these findings and share his personal experiences as a pioneer in community television in the Caribbean. The seminar will be introduced by Emiel Martens, Assistant Professor in Postcolonial Media Studies and historian of the Caribbean audiovisual industries.

This seminar is organized by the ASCA Research Group Postcolonial Film Histories and Heritages and hosted by BuzzHouse. The seminar takes place on-site, but online attendance via Zoom is possible as well. 

Community TV in the Caribbean: Inside Errol Fabien’s Gayelle the Caribbean in Trinidad & Tobago

📅 Wednesday, March 5, 2025

🕒 15:00-17:00 hrs

📍 Flamingo Room, Buzzhouse/Humanities Venture Lab, Oudemanhuispoort (E-building)

👉 Please register for your on-site attendance in advance via Rebecca Robinson (r.r.robinson@uva.nl)

💻 Join the Zoom link for online attendance: https://uva-live.zoom.us/j/89199258793