The Editor, Sir:

It seems that the Broadcasting Commission has finally began to listen to the pleas of Jamaicans who have grown tired of the trash that is being played on radio that passes as music. Did the situation have to reach this abysmal level for them to realise that they are guardians of the airwaves or was it a matter of the change of the chairmanship?

For too long certain deejays - not radio announcers or broadcasters - have quietly infiltrated the profession and turned radio programmes into a cacophony of lewd, vulgar display of ideas that are harmful to people's ear and psyche.

It is no secret that the evolution of the electronic media in Jamaica have led to various changes, good and bad, but the most notable seems to be the watering down of long held standards in production and presentation. Many radio stations are now akin to clubs, where deejays simply turn up to play music with a CD pack and this was where the problem started.

Worsened situation

The situation worsened when many DJs took on the role of producers of various dancehall artistes, whereby they now play "their" music. Nobody bothered to learn anything about how to read the news or pronounce words properly while speaking on air, much less how to conduct interviews. This problem should be laid squarely at the feet of station managers, programme producers and librarians, if they still exist. Have playlists been abandoned or are non-existent in some stations?

I am not advocating the immediate suspension of the operating licences of the radio stations when they breach the law, as there must be freedom of expression. However, freedom requires responsibility. As a the Broadcasting Commission could move to institute the introduction of punitive fines on a graduated level as a deterrent to these breaches and surely the infractions will be curtailed. The suspension of an operating licence should be a last resort and culpable disc jockeys ought to be personally fined when they play songs that are not fit for airplay. The often used escape route of 'bleeping' or 'splicing' when playing certain songs on the radio should not be accepted, as the intention in the first place was to have played the song.

Frankly, there are enough quality songs from every genre that are radio-friendly and yet these are largely ignored. I believe it is high time to clean up radio programming in this country as, like many others, I do not want to turn on my radio at anytime and believe that I am in a dancehall, as there are enough avenues to listen such. In the meantime, I await the days when I can turn on the radio night or day and simply enjoy music that is not a pain to one's ears because a DJ wants to "jack it up" or is encouraging a young gullible boy to be a "gansta for life".

I am, etc.,

DUDLEY MCFARLANE

Kingston 20