A broader look at what is payola
Dear Cordel Green,
Two weeks in a row I see favourable press reviews of you and the Broadcasting Commission in the Gleaner written by one of my favourite Gleaner writers Mr Mel Cooke. I am a fan of the serious poems that Mel writes and interviewed him on my radio programme “Looking Back Looking Forward” some years ago. This programme by the way was broadcast on Sundays on Newstalk 93 FM for four years and was the number one listened to programme at that station and on radio during that slot until I was summarily fired at your instigation.
However, it is the subject of payola that forced me to take up pen (I will come back to the firing in a moment) because that seems to be the next crusade being undertaken by you and the Broadcasting Commission. Let me first declare that I have no knowledge about payola, it probably exists, it can’t be a good thing, but I wonder how much knowledge you yourself have of it, and assuming that you have knowledge, I call upon you to share it with the public, and have the broadest possible discussion before you march off to the holy land. In fact this call for an open discussion is dictated by having been a victim of one of your self-righteous crusades against Ragashanti -- in other words your indiscriminate slash and burn method to protect public morality.
The problem here is that while it is convenient to see payola in terms of paying for musical air time, what about payola where a well-paid public administrator such as yourself (paid by taxpayers hard earned money) uses his power to force media owners to do things at his will. And here I’m talking about the hiring and firing of radio talk show hosts that you don’t care for?
Firing -- first case in point. I will not revisit your firing of Ragashanti, he is better able to speak for himself, but because I happened to disagree with how you handled the Ragashanti matter your knee jerk response was to have me fired from Newstalk. You were invited by me to discuss the matter along with Raga (though separately) and after agreeing to be on the programme, you called to cancel a couple hours before based upon an alleged meeting you forgot about. Within minutes after the interview began with Raga you were nevertheless able to call the General Manager away from a moment of relaxation she was enjoying to complain about the criticisms that were being raised about your handling of the matter. (What about that meeting your supposed to be in Mr Green?)
This call precipitated my firing within less than 24 hours. What power and influence were you using when you made that call? Why was it so urgent to call instead of following your own protocol and write a letter to make your complaint? I don’t gamble but I will bet you publicly that you subsequently wrote no letter of complaint because the General Manager, as Mr Bruce Golding famously said, was a very convenient "lubricated conduit". Do you therefore like Pilate wash your hands of the whole matter as if you had nothing to do with it?
Hiring – second case in point: On two occasions I was about to be hired by Bess FM and then things went cold. When I enquired I was informed, and on at least one of the occasions by the owner of the station himself, that he had to consult with the Broadcasting Commission as to whether I could be hired or not?
I have no direct knowledge as to what transpired between the owner and the Broadcasting Commission (you certainly would know) but given today’s Sunday Gleaner article where there is a suggestion that radio DJs (and I’m not a DJ by any means) might come under some kind scrutiny for potential conflict of interest, it is not far fetched to believe that grateful media owners (grateful for getting a licence from the powerful Broadcasting Commission for example) might believe it necessary or convenient or prudent to consult with you on everything including whom to hire and fire what they might eat for lunch? Of course we know that you would never advise people what to eat for lunch but it’s interesting that some media owners should have that impression.
So what other indirect or not so subtle powers of persuasion does the Broadcasting Commission have? Could the $32 million dollars of taxpayers’ money that is given to the Commission from the national budget and earmarked for “public education” be a source of subtle influence wielding. After all, in these tight financial times media houses competing for scarce and shrinking advertising dollars would be most grateful for any dollar that the Commission spends with them. (Bess FM I’m sure is grateful for those dollars that you have spent with them). Would they be willing to do your bidding by a wink or a nod? This is certainly not payola as commonly defined but in reality is it any different?
The Press Association of Jamaica, along with others who consider themselves liberals or as having a social conscience, may chose to be deaf, dumb and blind to the implications of what has happened in my case, but there is no denying that part of your mission, by casting such a wide net is political censorship. Those who dare to criticise the Broadcasting Commission and in my case also, being described as "too anti-establishment" are fair game. There are varying degrees of anti-establishment persons in the media, and I have no doubt that your radar is well attuned to send them a message, or fix them, even if by a phone call or a nod or maybe a wink. Nothing can be proved. Or outrightly threatening to yank their licence. There is no way you can deny that political censorship was the ultimate consequence in my case. I’ll allow Raga to argue his case.
Finally, one of the disappointments of this government is that they did not follow through on their pre-election promise that individuals appointed to public jobs such as yours, should before being appointed, be subject to parliamentary or public scrutiny so that we may know beforehand about agendas, real or apparent. And the worst choice that could possibly be made is someone who can’t take public criticism. That is the one of the main ingredients of the imperial censor.
Sincerely,
Lloyd D’Aguilar
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