KINGSTON, Jamaica – THE Jamaican Broadcasting Commission (JBC) has announced that the recent rumour of the Commission’s intention to ban 72 reggae songs is false.
According to a press release issued to SKNVibes by JBC’s Information Officer, Nicole Morrison, the Commission wishes the public to know that it has not compiled or approved any list of songs or musical recordings, does not intend to do so and has never identified any specific recordings to be disallowed from airplay.
“The commission operates on an internationally accepted system of broadcast regulation in which licensees are provided with the approved current legislation, the regulations, codes and lawful directives.
“Licensees are then required to observe these provisions as a condition of their licenses. These arrangements are in the interest of established broadcasting standards and in protection of children and the public interest,” the statement reads.
The hoax list is headed by the Marleys and has four songs by Bob Marley - ‘Burning & Looting’, ‘Guava Jelly’, ‘Pimpers Paradise’ and ‘I shot the sheriff’- and five songs listed by Junior Gong including ‘Welcome to Jamrock’.
The list also includes ‘So Special’ by Mavado, Beenie Man’ ‘Who Am I’, Buju Banton’s ‘Driva’, Busy Signal’s ‘Tic Toc’, Lady Saw’s ‘Sycamore Tree’ and Shabba Ranks’ ‘Mr. Lover Man’.
The statement also said that it is the responsibility of station managers or their designated programme managers to determine which songs are appropriate and which ones are unsuitable for airplay, and to ensure that as licensees they operate within the bounds of the laws and regulations.
The monitoring of the electronic media outlets is said to be conducted on an ongoing basis by members of the public, trained volunteers and the officers employed by the Commission to help safeguard against infringements.
It is said that media houses and their managements have also been on heightened vigilance against breaches and are often acting on their own initiatives to detect and offer remedies for perceived breaches.
“It would appear that the list of recordings in circulation is associated with a demand for the Broadcasting Commission to revise and or clarify the recent series of regulatory directives issued in February 2009,” the release said. “The Commission has no intention of changing or retracting any aspect of the existing directives and applicable regulations; however, the Commission will continue its ongoing programme of meeting with licensees and interested stakeholders to clarify the regulations and directives, where necessary.”
The Commission issued a directive on February 6, 2009 stating the following:
1. There shall not be transmitted through radio or television, any recording, live song or music video which promotes the act of 'daggering', or which makes reference to, or is otherwise suggestive of 'daggering'.
2. There shall not be transmitted through radio or television or cable services, any audio recording, song or music video which employs editing techniques of 'bleeping' or 'beeping' of its original lyrical content.
3. Programme managers and station owners or operators are hereby required to take immediate steps to prevent transmission of any recorded material relating to 'daggering' or which falls into the category of edited musical content using techniques of 'bleeping' or 'beeping'.
The Commission had also previously issued a directive stating that there should not be transmitted on radio, television, or cable any recording, live presentation or music video from calypso/soca, hip-hop or any other genre which promotes or contains references to or is otherwise suggestive of ‘daggering’ or which publicly displays, simulates or instructs about explicit sexual activities or positions.
Jamaica News