A number of regional and international journalists blasted The Bahamas for poor services, which they felt led to mediocre coverage of the 42nd BTC CARIFTA Games.
Several of them complained about missing deadlines because they did not receive results in a timely fashion; being unable to log on to the Internet while seated trackside; and having difficulties interviewing athletes because of the location of the media room itself.
More than 50 media houses were covering the CARIFTA Games at Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium this past weekend. Out of the 50, only about 25 received full accreditation. Some members of the Guardian Network, inclusive of The Nassau Guardian's Sports Department and the radio stations, had difficulty receiving media passes.
It was reported that several broadcast journalists were escorted away from the facility because they had no accreditation. Others were afraid to leave the facility late Friday evening because their credentials had the word "Friday" in the space where the photo was supposed to be.
Journalist Anthony Foster, one of the writers for Track Alerts, was the first to leak the news about the conditions. The headline on Foster's story was "Journalists finding things hard at CARIFTA Games in The Bahamas". He followed that up with another article titled "Internet a huge problem at CARIFTA Games 2013". A number of other stories, scrutinizing the conditions, appeared on the Internet.
Foster reported: "Earlier I wrote about the media area, or better yet, the below par area where they put tables for media personnel to sit and work, and the accreditation system. Thank God we have no rain so far. Well into the meet, journalists suffered and may still be suffering big time from the poor quality of Internet service. We pleaded for Internet service on Friday, but nothing, apart from late in the night, after the opening ceremony, we were told the net was up.
"However, on our arrival on Saturday there was no Internet in the 'so-called' press tribune, and even though this was reported by almost everyone, the technical people showed little or no urgency. We went through the entire first session, and most of the final, as Internet was not available until minutes before the close, and to make matters worse, I was using a BTC phone, which dropped service regularly throughout the day. That prevented me from updating my followers on Twitter and Facebook. I mentioned what made matters worse above, but this may be seen as the worst, BTC is a sponsor of the event. I am sorry if the worldwide media who will be coming here to cover the IAAF World Relays next year will have to depend on Internet and phone in The Bahamas."
The trackside, which was designated for the media, is actually the space for disabled persons. In fact, when those persons with special needs showed up to watch the games, many had to be turned away while others sat cramped in their wheelchairs in a small corner.
The closed off ramp had many restrictions and limited journalists and photographers, all of whom had to jump over a rail in order to interview or take pictures. When journalists tried to ask for assistance, many were left clueless as to who was in charge of taking care of the media, with everyone pointing fingers at the next person. No transportation was provided.
The problems continued to mount on Sunday and again on Monday. Journalists feared that if they worked from inside the room designated for media, they would miss out on the action and interviews from athletes. The room provided for media was first used as a technical room, then for accreditation and later shared with other persons who were selling CARIFTA booklets. No security was placed in the room and anyone from the general public was given access to the room and could use the computers that were set up.
Many of the journalists are afraid to return to The Bahamas to cover events, and noted that trouble is on the way for the country if no improvement is made in time for next year's World Relays.
The Bahamas is set to host the inaugural International Association of Athletic Federations' (IAAF) World Relays in 2014 and 2015. Another problem faced by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) is the facility itself. The facility only meets regional certification. In order for The Bahamas to host these relays the facility must be Class I certified, and approved by the IAAF as a major site for a global event. All eyes are now on the country.

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