ANGELO JEDIDIAH
While there may be concerns about the songs played and their lyrical content, members of the public are calling for additional regulation over the airwaves.
On Wednesday, the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) hosted the 35th ICT Open Forum titled “Lyrics on the Radio: Regulation or Free Reign.”
At the televised event, chief executive officer, Cynthia Reddock-Downes, said public sentiments have been growing over claims that local lyrical content has grown more aggressive, violent and sexually explicit.
“The authority actively works to address the possible negative impact of the broadcast of inappropriate content on the national community in the absence of laws and regulations such as the Broadcasting Code,” Reddock-Downes said.
Last October, the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) announced a ban on audio and video recordings that promotes illegal drugs, illegal guns and scamming throughout the country.
Locally, while there is not such a strict ban, various methods of been used to ensure certain words do not come across the airwaves, though it may be deemed unsuccessful.
“Songs may be poorly edited or bleeped out and you will hear the beginning of a word, the other part is bleeped out, but you know the word. You can clearly identify the word…And there is other content that it is just plainly not right for the public’s consumption,” said TATT executive member, Karel Douglas.
Last month, local soca artiste Rodney ‘Benjai’ Le Blanc called out his peers in the music and entertainment industry who continue to release content that is considered to be ‘positive.’
“We the artistes have to come better than that man… that is best you can sing boy? These radio stations have the power, to control what going through the people and them ears,” the singer said.
But according to BCJ president Cordel Green, the situation on ‘responsible broadcasting’ remains a complex subject due to the fact that there are artistes who make their music for a particular sector or space, should not be punished with the unnecessary bleeping and excessive re-editing of their works.
“The fact is artistes are motivated to create art and they create art based on their dysfunctionalities, their religious beliefs, their world view, they create art for their specific spaces. Now, why would an artiste bother to go to create to exercise and stretch themselves and create another work which is specific for the radio space, if radio stations and DJs are tripping over themselves, chopping, shopping and cutting content which was clearly not made for the space,” Green said.