The Swede Lars G.O. Söderström is reporting on his Website that he has been the General Manager of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for the last three months. We try to keep on top of the news which affect Barbados but we have to confess we missed this announcement. As always the BU household thanks the BU family member for drawing this matter to our attention. We have to admit though that the Swede’s resume is impressive, on paper!
It is a crying shame that at a time when Barbados is struggling to maintain its cultural identity we could not find a son or daughter from the region to perform this job. The importance of our ONLY television station to facilitate cultural expression we believe to be critical to the development of our people. In the interest of transparency it would be interesting to find out the selection criteria used to appoint the Swede to the post of General Manager. Is it true that Mr. Söderström was hired by the CBC as a consultant in 2004 and has participated in a restructuring exercise along with Trinidadian Malina Salandy up until a few months ago?
Barbadians need to have an explanation from Chairman Leroy Parris about this appointment. It appears that the Swede Lars G.O. Söderström joined CBC in his new capacity at the end of July 2008. It therefore begs the question – how is it that the Swede has published on his Website that he has been General Manager of the CBC for three months? As a matter of interest the BU family should recall that it was around July 2008 Deputy Chairman Jeannette Layne-Clarke resigned from the CBC Board citing illness and the need to recuperate.
The CBC has operated below expectation over the years and there are two reasons we think, the high level of political involvement and the cut-throat behaviour of the staff. We remember stories about Nigel Barrow the former Minister of Information playing dominoes away from CBC and looked-up to view a TV, when he saw a former popular news anchor, he telephoned CBC from the domino table. The anchor never appeared on national TV again after the call. Just as important is the need for the CBC staff to recognize the importance of teamwork and professionalism.
The former government had enunciated a public policy of working to beef-up the CBC to make it ready for privatization, is this the policy of the current government? We agree with the policy of the former government that the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and the CBC should have a model which separates the commercial and development aspects of their businesses. What we can deduce from what we are hearing about the the Swede’s appointment is that it appears to be a continuation of the former government’s policy. Do not forget he participated in a restructuring which started in 2004.
It is unusual for agents who participate in the restructuring of a company to eventually land the job of managing the company. We venture to suggest that it is not the recommended management approach. We have two questions for the BU family:
- Can you recommend Barbadians and other Caribbean media professionals in the diaspora who qualify for the job the Swede landed?
- What do you know about the Swede?
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.