Editorial
Stabroek News
May 28, 2001

Prime Minister Sam Hinds is today due to meet with owners of broadcasting stations to discuss the licensing and regulation of their operations.

Hinds in a statement on May 23 announced that the government was moving to end the anarchy on the electromagnetic spectrum and that the provisions of the extant Post and Telegraph Act and Wireless Telegraphy Regulations would be applied in the interim. As a result, broadcasters would be required to apply for licences and these will encompass terms and conditions governing technical standards and the content of broadcast programming material. A broad-based committee will be established to advise on whether the content of programmes adhere to the Media Code of Conduct which had been crafted in the approach to the March 19 general elections.

To say that the initiative to bring order to the airwaves is welcome would be an understatement. The anarchy that has prevailed on the airwaves since the middle of the 80s is a stinging indictment of the policy vacuum in which successive PNC and PPP/Civic governments have operated. While the TV stations performed an important service, anyone with transmitting infrastructure and a little capital could cook in this kitchen of lawlessness. For virtually two decades this has been the situation. The renewed urgency to regulate this sector no doubt flows from the pernicious and dangerous programming emanating in particular from NBTV Channel 9 and other stations during the elections period and the widespread public appeals for the government to do something about it.

But the intent to regulate the sector doesn't mean much without the will and conviction to see it through. Two PPP/Civic administrations have attempted to bell this particular cat without success. These efforts stretch all the way back to 1992 with the commissioning of the Rafiq Khan report through to Martin Mordecai's contribution in 1995 to the committee last year established after a ground-breaking meeting between President Bharrat Jagdeo and broadcasters. None of these interventions produced the goods though last year's meeting did begin significant work towards this.

It must be said that the timing of the PM's initiative is most inauspicious. Firstly, he is attempting to close the stable doors after the wild, excitable horses have long bolted and enormous damage has been done by vile and inflammatory broadcasts. Second, the initiative comes smack in the middle of the dialogue initiated between President Bharrat Jagdeo and PNC REFORM leader Desmond Hoyte. One of the many things they have agreed on is the setting up of a committee for the enacting of broadcast legislation for the responsible use of the media. It will also examine the issue of the government monopoly of radio and the question of non-partisan boards of directors for the state-owned media. It is expected to table a report in a matter of weeks.

Moving ahead unilaterally on licensing and the broadcast legislation will therefore undercut the work of this committee and further complicate the situation. Moreover, in the highly charged atmosphere following the March 19 elections, the PM's move will open the process to charges of political bias. The best chance now of producing results is the bi-partisan option where the two main parties are engaged and other persons are sitting on the committee.

Ideally, at today's caucus the PM and the invitees could agree to refer the issue of licensing pending comprehensive legislation to the Jagdeo/Hoyte committee. This committee presumably will be studying precedents that exist in the Caribbean and further afield for modern broadcast legislation and also instituting order in a landscape characterised by squatting and pirating.

Owners of the television stations must also recognise at this meeting that their tenure on the electromagnetic spectrum is not an automatic right, cannot be free and it comes with a host of responsibilities.

While it is important that all sides concur that hate-filled messages and broadcasts cannot be part of acceptable programming, today's meeting must go further in setting the stage for modern broadcasting legislation.

Critical issues are the composition of the broad-based broadcast authority and its functioning. Such an authority must operate independently and nothing in its legislative underpinnings or in the appointments of its members should diminish this. The unshackling of the state's monopoly on radio must also be on the table together with issues of immediate concern such as the licensing fee for TV stations, how and by whom programme content will be assessed, respecting copyright and ending the pirating of signals and stimulating local productions of quality.

These views could be transmitted to the Jagdeo/Hoyte committee which is undoubtedly doing its own information gathering. Today's meeting will provide welcome attention to lassoing the runaway extremism, however, it must be done properly and it seems that the bipartisan committee holds out the best hope.