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LACK OF GLOBAL MEDIA ATTENTION:

One of the goals of this Conference was to raise global awareness of the situation faced by small island developing States and the interconnectedness of their plight with the rest of the world. Although awareness appears to have been raised within the UN and the diplomatic community, the message may not have gotten out to the rest of the world. While the Conference did receive widespread coverage by the local and Caribbean media, there was a noticeable absence of print and electronic media from further abroad. With the exceptions of CNN, a couple of British and Australian newspapers and a few radio networks, the Northern media was nowhere to be seen. Part of the problem lies in the lack of a stronger public relations campaign surrounding this Conference on the part of both AOSIS and the UN Secretariat, particularly the Department of Public Information. Despite some clever marketing, the global message of this Conference was not taken up and delivered by the media. As is often the case with SIDS, other international and national events took priority.