80% of Caribbean Journalists Are Burnt Out. Here’s Why That Should Worry You

Eight in ten Caribbean journalists are reporting burnout, and the region’s media is hemorrhaging revenue to foreign tech giants like Meta and Google.

That is the warning issued by the Media Institute of the Caribbean on World Press Freedom Day today, May 3, 2026.

The MIC said that Caribbean journalism faces “a perfect storm of negative circumstances”. Between 15% and 25% of digital advertising revenue is flowing to Meta and Google rather than local news organisations. At the same time, “over 80% of Caribbean journalists are reporting professional burnout”, with many lacking support for their well-being and fighting back against “harassment, legal intimidation, and growing surveillance.

Adding to the pressure is artificial intelligence. A 2023 MIC study found AI-generated deepfakes targeting elections, coordinated campaigns undermining public health, and synthetic content exploiting ethnic and religious divisions.

“This precarity has the potential to undermine journalism’s capacity to serve as a democratic watchdog,” MIC said. “Media literacy is also no longer optional. It is foundational democratic infrastructure.”

MIC is moving to call on governments to tax digital advertising giants, regulators to audit algorithms for bias, and educators to embed media literacy in schools from the primary level upward.

“Media viability, media literacy, and press freedom are prerequisites for shaping futures at peace,” MIC added.