Dear Editor,

Over the past few years there has been the call for broadcast regulation,with some sore points being ,the "loose cannon" attitudes of various media houses, unethical programming,piracy, the paucity of original local production,amongst others. While some imminent changes are merited,and rules and regulations are part of civil society,we must not let our standards be compromised by their content.

I would like to make direct reference to the Sports Department of the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation. There is a misconception by this apparently happy go lucky group of individuals that the sporting public is satisfied with what they have been passing off as sports news, well we definitely are not!

To begin with, there is no structure in the presentation,it sounds as though the sheets containing the information are read, or placed, in an ad hoc manner.Those who listen regularly can attest to this,you can hear local football, followed by international cricket, squash, local cricket, another item of local football,a bit about scrabble, swimming, local cricket,and then a report from Colin Croft.

Secondly, there seems to be a perpetual problem as to how their international sports results are accessed.Those who have computers know that these facts are a click away!There can be no excuse for giving us lunch time cricket scores when the day's play ended hours ago, or hearing results of games being repeated day after day for the lack of fresh input. I have heard of password problems, and other such excuses. GBC can have at their disposal, if they don't already, an up to date computer system,and hookup with a reliable Internet Service Provider for round the clock service,which will serve all sections of their operation,newsroom included. If it means that only the GM and a few other senior staff are given the password,then so be it!They also possess arguably the best short wave facilities,as evidenced by their 24 7 BBC coverage,during their strike.

Bottomline,if they can't deliver, why not allow others to open independent stations,it seems monopoly just isn't the way to go.