On September 14, Kariculture.net will celebrate its 3 years of existence. On September 14, 2016, when I launched this cultural magazine dedicated to culture and heritage on the islands of the Caribbean after three years of preparation (courses in foreign languages, in computer science etc.) and several trips to the Caribbean, I never thought that my only support would come from a politician from France. His name: Emmanuel Macron.
Indeed, on May 30, 2018, I sent a letter to the President of the Republic in order to inform him of my choice to stay in my island, Guadeloupe, to create a new press organ and the great difficulties that I had to carry out my project.
In his letter of October 30, 2018, Emmanuel Macron apologized for his “late reply due to the many letters arriving at the Presidency of the Republic” and he sent me “all his encouragement” to continue my “project for the cultural exchange between the Caribbean islands”.
In addition, the Head of State informed me that he was sending my letter to Franck Riester, his newly appointed Minister of Culture, “so that he can conduct a diligent examination of my file”. The Ministry of Culture contacted me and I was able to make a file to get an “Emergence Grant” (Support Fund for Emergence and Innovation in the Press).
The intervention of the President of the Republic does not mean that I will automatically have this financial aid. Only the Commission that studies the files of each media will decide, in the coming weeks, if Kariculture.net can get this grant.
For my part, I remember that when I was totally discouraged, there is only one politician who told me not to give up my project. This is Emmanuel Macron.
During the past three years, I have written several times to the two major local authorities that are the Regional Council of Guadeloupe and the Departmental Council of Guadeloupe and all urban area communities to introduce Kariculture.net, this new Caribbean magazine on the internet which is trilingual (French, English and Spanish) and registered since it has its Certificate of inscription on the registers of the Joint Commission of the Publications and Press Agencies (CPPAP in French). I have not received any response from these different local communities. Kariculture.net has never even been invited to a simple press conference on one of their cultural events or got their advertising contracts…
In short, I had no support from our Guadeloupean politicians who claim to be Caribbean people.
And yet, when we hear these Guadeloupean policy makers talk about cooperation with the islands of the Caribbean, we would have sworn that they are very interested in the subject…
And yet, Guadeloupe belongs to the Association of Caribbean States and last March it joined the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)…
And yet, as every two years, last August Guadeloupe participated in the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA XIV) in Trinidad & Tobago…
And yet, here we are talking more and more about our “caribeanity”. In fact, suddenly a lot of people are “pregnant fat tummy” by the Caribbean, according to a Creole expression…
After months of waiting in 2015 under the former regional team for a grant that never arrived and many adventures under the current regional team, in June 2018, I was able to apply for a grant of nearly 12,000 euros from the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, in charge of the economic development of the territory. In January 2019, I received a notification dated November 9, 2018 on which was written that I had requested financial assistance of 7,000 euros and 6,000 euros had been given to my company. I asked why the amount of the grant had been revised downwards, I had no explanation. I asked for my grant application file to be reconsidered, I had no response. Moreover, the Regional Council of Guadeloupe which had also made other commitments concerning my company did not respect any of them.
For almost 1 year (more than 10 months, very exactly), I am waiting for this sum of money that has never been paid. I have already informed this local authority of this inextricable situation – which has very serious consequences, in particular legal, for my company and me – by all possible means (mails, letters, phone calls etc.), but without success.
Last August, the President of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe had announced a meeting with him, it never held…
Moreover, if almost all the press on the island have a contract/convention (which brings them money) signed with some local authorities, this is not the case of Kariculture.net. This kind of “contract” has its good and bad sides. Indeed, the “contract” may provide financial support to “small” private media that do not receive the millions from the state or the millions from local advertising market. However, it is clear that the communities prefer the relations of “cronyism” with the “small” media and the large audience of the “big” media (which do not really need this money) to sign these contracts.
Of course, the contract/convention leads us to wonder about the real meaning of press freedom in Guadeloupe when we understand that often these media that have this contract rush to report the words of a politician not because of its interest but because they get a sum of public money…
In addition, Kariculture.net is not a “big” media that can regularly raise the spectre of lay-off of dozens of employees in order to quickly get grants…
The questions are asked : who wants to kill by asphyxiation Kariculture.net and why? Is it because I am a woman and I decided to move on the side of the media bosses? Why do we always have to wait for people from elsewhere to come and do what we can do?
When I was 14, I decided that I will be a journalist, at that time the number of women in this profession was not large like today. I did not find my diploma and internship certificates in a pack of washing powder, Bonux. I did not make any “treat” (or sexual favours) to press bosses or editors to get their “blessing” to work as a journalist here in Guadeloupe. I learned this profession at a school of journalism and alongside senior journalists in Paris.
If Kariculture.net is doomed to disappear from the Guadeloupean media landscape, it will be in dignity. After 3 years of existence and with very few resources, this magazine which can be read all over the world has contributed to the promotion of many artists from the Caribbean region and particularly from Guadeloupe (often located in Mexico!) and many cultural events like carnival…
This week, a ministerial mission sent by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Overseas in Paris must arrive in Guadeloupe to look into the financial situation of the local press and grants given to this branch. In addition to the economic aspects of the problem, I believe that this mission should also take into account the “Fann’ Tchou” attitude (literal translation: crack the bum) or the destruction of Guadeloupeans who undertake at home, a real cancer in this country…
