{"id":25654,"date":"2019-04-08T14:32:03","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T18:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=25654"},"modified":"2019-04-08T14:32:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T18:32:14","slug":"pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/","title":{"rendered":"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Prime Minister Gaston Browne is defending his decision to issue cultural ambassador status and diplomatic passports to Kanneh-Mason family.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The government recently came under criticism after the decision was announced.<\/p>\n

Many are questioning why the title was never conferred on Queen Thalia who has won both local and regional titles. <\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Others have cited that Thalia is widely recognized and know her music and should be granted the same.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

The Prime Minister says the privilege is not about title or crown but about the contribution to the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about the contribution and promoting the country. No disrespect but our calypsonians have to step up, it can\u2019t be just about winning the crown.\u201d<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Browne called on the calypsonians to produce music that can go beyond the shores of Antigua and Barbuda.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must produce music that can travel, not these domesticated things\u201d.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Some writers, producers and the calypsonians were all condemned for using their platform to do what the Prime Minister calls \u201cbeat down politicians.\u201d<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Kanneh-Mason family was recently appointed cultural ambassador during a culture event recently.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Gaston Browne is defending his decision to issue cultural ambassador status and diplomatic passports to Kanneh-Mason family. The government recently came under criticism after the decision was announced. Many are questioning why the title was never conferred on Queen Thalia who has won both local and regional titles. Others have cited that Thalia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prime Minister Gaston Browne is defending his decision to issue cultural ambassador status and diplomatic passports to Kanneh-Mason family. The government recently came under criticism after the decision was announced. Many are questioning why the title was never conferred on Queen Thalia who has won both local and regional titles. Others have cited that Thalia […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-08T18:32:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-08T18:32:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1012\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"574\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-08T18:32:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-08T18:32:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\"},\"wordCount\":186,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Entertainment\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\",\"name\":\"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors - Antigua News Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-08T18:32:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-08T18:32:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg\",\"width\":\"1012\",\"height\":\"574\",\"caption\":\"\\\"The most talented family in the world\\\", The Kanneh-Masons\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"name\":\"Antigua News Room\",\"description\":\"News As It Happens\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Antigua Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg\",\"width\":1260,\"height\":1260,\"caption\":\"Antigua Newsroom\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors - Antigua News Room","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors","og_description":"Prime Minister Gaston Browne is defending his decision to issue cultural ambassador status and diplomatic passports to Kanneh-Mason family. The government recently came under criticism after the decision was announced. Many are questioning why the title was never conferred on Queen Thalia who has won both local and regional titles. Others have cited that Thalia […]","og_url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/","og_site_name":"Antigua News Room","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","article_published_time":"2019-04-08T18:32:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-08T18:32:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1012,"height":574,"url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_site":"@AntiguaNewsRoom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/"},"author":{"name":"Editor","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5"},"headline":"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors","datePublished":"2019-04-08T18:32:03+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-08T18:32:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/"},"wordCount":186,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg","articleSection":["Entertainment","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/","name":"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors - Antigua News Room","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-08T18:32:03+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-08T18:32:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1012\/h:574\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/kanneh-mason-2.jpg","width":"1012","height":"574","caption":"\"The most talented family in the world\", The Kanneh-Masons"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/pm-is-defends-decision-to-name-family-cultural-ambassadors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PM defends decision to name family cultural ambassadors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","name":"Antigua News Room","description":"News As It Happens","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization","name":"Antigua Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1080\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_1584.jpeg","width":1260,"height":1260,"caption":"Antigua Newsroom"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom","https:\/\/x.com\/AntiguaNewsRoom","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/antiguanewsroom\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536?s=96","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/author\/editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/13989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/anr-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}