The scrapping of radio talk-shows

03 Dec, 1999

DEAR HOTEP,
My name is ava and i am from petit valley, i often listen to you on the radio and could not help but reflect on the fact that you are right about a lot of the things you say...but what do you think about ICN removing the Sound-Off radio programme which is the free expression of views and the denial of adult sex material on cable, in the privacy of our homes. It seems like a lot more people would now see what you were saying on the air all the while is quite true.

What beats me in all this is the lost voices of Morgan job, Clive Nunez, hazel brown and the other human rights activist who at the drop of a hat previously would complain about the wrong things in our society, but it seems like if they have migrated. Where are we heading with a government like this as a country supposedly going into the 21st century. AVA SMITH....PETIT VALLEY

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04 Dec, 1999

By A. H. Hotep
Why am I not surprised? For years I have been telling people, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR EDUCATION IN THE HANDS OF FOOLS. They would cut you off when you least expect it.

This is Election time and this Government knows that the interaction between callers can have a telling effect on the outcome of elections. Several previous political parties were in and out of office and they did not try to close any Talk Show, so the question should be why now?

The Programs Manager could come later and say any thing, or place another type of interactive program in the slot to quell the criticisms. That will not take away from the gross disrespect shown by not forewarning listeners and callers about changes or removal of a program that has been on the airways for nearly a decade.

They cannot say that it was because of lack of sponsorship because that program has always been heavily sponsored, with more commercials than time for callers to chat.

Up until today, they have not explained the reason for the removal of the lone African oriented program (DIALOGUE) from the station, although they said at the time that they did not find anything wrong with the program. Ordinary people were paying for that program. An African contractor offered to pay thirty six thousand dollars to continue the program and they refused. The issue is not and was never about funding. We are dealing with ignorance driven by their fear of the unifying power of African History.

Some Hosts and Programs Managers have spent the last five years trying to evade the request for the inclusion of African programs on our state media. They have failed in all their efforts to keep me from making this request and from stimulating interest on many Talk Shows. That particular station moved from a single telephone line, to including telephone caller ID. A single line left them struggling trying to explain the continual interruptions when they were disengaging my calls. They included another telephone line so that when they were canceling my calls they would engage the other line and the listeners would be none the wiser. That also failed because I used another telephone line and told the listeners that they were using caller ID that was to detect and cut off certain callers. I used different telephone lines to get into the programs and they were unable to detect when I was calling until they answered the call and by then, it was too late. All this time they were giving listeners the impression that I was welcomed to give my views like everyone else. They have witnessed the increasing support for African historical programs to be included on the radio and televisions.

They are quite aware that many people value these historical contributions and they were becoming increasingly fearful every time new callers voice support.

The Prime Minister was boasting at a meeting that he has done the most for African people. That was a joke. Why did he feel that he had to single out African people for special mention? Why did he not speak about the millions given to his East Indian friends and their family through questionable contracts? With three East Indian formatted radio stations, this Prime Minister and his supporters do not want, one program from an African point of view on our state media. This same Prime Minister often spoke about East Indian alienation with no evidence of this. He came into office on the claim that he is about National Unity. He calls every one who disagrees with his policies, racist. This same Prime Minister accused the union leader, Raffique Shah, of selling out to the niggers. And he fired many African people from heading state corporations and replaced them with more incompetent East Indians. He does not trust any one who is not first, East Indian and second, blindly loyal to him. He has no understanding of meritocracy.

The Prime Minister, Basdeo Panday asked his supporters to call on Talk Shows to support his party, but he underestimated the ignorance of his supporters, they were embarrassing the party whenever they spoke. All they did was come on programs and blindly defended the Government's propaganda and when the Government admitted failure they were left humiliated.

Even the Government's favored hosts found it very difficult to defend their ineffective policies.

The insecurities of the Prime Minister and his supporters have them continually monitoring radio programs and threatening media owners. So it is not surprising that they called for an end to the playboy channels on cable television although these channels were restricted and most ordinary people could not afford the subscription. To attack the media they are now trying to sell morality as their concern. This is blackmail. If private media houses do not stop talk shows that criticize the government's tremendous wastage, they are going to keep intimidate them.

On the other hand, all of these private media houses are owned by Wealthy Whites or White 'wannabe' people. They are afraid of loosing their financial and influential strong hold on the society because of this Government's policy of giving the majority of contracts to their East Indian friends and family. They feel threatened and this is the reason they allow forums for people to scrutinize this Government. They are not doing so because of concern for people, it is about protecting their personal greed and social standing. Ordinary people are used as usual. The White Parasitical Oligarchy feels threatened by the growing East Indian Parasitical Oligarchy. They are too ignorant to know that their fears are unfounded. The East Indian Parasitical Oligarchy can never reign supreme because their greed is driven by their taste for European luxuries and a White complexion. The growing East Indian wealth go to White owned businesses that supply the white luxuries, so the wealth remains in the hands of the light colored. This same pattern also drains the material resources of Africans. Their acquired European materialistic desires keep them wasting resources forever trying to fit into higher social classes.

Short-term desires with little or no reflection keep ignorance alive. The media houses and the government do not want African Historical programs on the airways, they want the people to continually choose between lesser of evils, not good over evil. In such ignorance, the White Elite remains looking squeaky clean because there is no visible sign of them oppressing peoples. They simply employ East Indian and African people to do their bidding.

Such is the nature of ignorance, those who want to rise materially are powerless to challenge the social grouping they are aspiring to. You mentioned former activists like Clive Nunez, Hazel Brown and Morgan Job. They are now silent with Government jobs, they do not oppose the same wrongs they once opposed anymore. They are now seeing themselves as part of a growing elite group, and they are now silently defending the wrongs.

What do concerned people do? They should become educated about all these antisocial patterns. They should learn about, and develop themselves and lobby for equity in the use of the state media so they can be kept informed. They should align themselves with people who share similar concerns and be prepared to act for improvement.

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