AllenEarl Moxam, Sunday Gleaner Writer
The Broadcasting Commission is promising to get tougher in carrying out its regulatory functions, and has warned at least one broadcaster, which it refused to name, for possible suspension of its operating licence.
RJR Communications Group has acknowledged, however, that it has been notified that its licence could be suspended and is awaiting further word on the matter.
The Media Association of Jamaica is arguing, in the meantime, that the commission is being uneven and subjective in carrying out its mandate.
Pledging that his team will cleanse the airwaves of gratuitous violence and profanity, Dr. Hopeton Dunn, chairman of the Broadcasting Commission, advised The Sunday Gleaner to expect morerobust enforcement of the relevant regulations.
"I don't think we have been aggressive enough and we are about to get very aggressive, not to stifle freedom of expression, but to stifle the deluge of deleterious and illegal content that is coming through the media, particularly through the electronic media; notwithstanding the good work of other people in the same media," he said.
Perhaps the clearest public manifestation of that resolve came on June 8, when the commission issued a media release, detailing actions taken against three major broadcasting entities - RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and Grove Broadcasting - and the steps that they in turn had taken to correct the breaches cited.
Serious consideration
The commission reported that on March 26 and May 8, respectively, it had met separately with the management of CVM and RJR "pointing out that each company was at risk of having its broadcast licence suspended for transmitting obscene language, explicit sexual material and graphic violence".
Irie FM, operated by Grove Broadcasting, was, in April, found in breach "for transmitting song lyrics containing graphic violence".
In the same release, the commission gave details of the remedial actions that had been taken by each of the offending broadcasters.
It appears, however, that at least one company is not completely in the clear, as Dunn revealed that this company was "under serious consideration in respect of suspension".
Pressed on the matter, the commission chairman disclosed that "the legal wheels have been put in train". A final determination would be made "on the basis of a number of factors", he added.
Follow-up interview
Gary Allen, deputy managing director of RJR Communications Group, confirmed in a follow-up interview that the company had been put on warning for possible suspension of its broadcast licence.
"What the commission has said is that it intends to make a recommendation to the minister for the suspension of our licence on breaches that have occurred," he revealed.
The situation for RJR is complicated by the fact that the group directly operates three radio stations - RJR 94, FAME FM and HITZ 92 FM - and is also legally responsible for the new 'digital AM' service being operated by Nationwide News Network; all on one licence.
The company is, therefore, particularly vulnerable to the commission's 'three-strikes-and-you-are-out' rule, since a breach committed by any of the four services would count towards the three strikes within a six-month period and this would result in all four services being taken off air.
While RJR waits for a final determination of the matter, Allen remains strongly of the view that due process has not been observed.
When contacted, Donald Buchanan, Minister of Information, said that he was not aware of any recommendation for suspension of a broadcast licence being forwarded to his office.
Regarding the overall regulatory function of the Broadcasting Commission, he asserted, however, that the agency "has a mandate and a responsibility and I expect them to execute that with fairness in the national interest of Jamaica".
