Way to go, Irie FM
published: Thursday | December 15, 2005

THE EDITOR, Sir:

I'd like to publicly congratulate Irie FM on its recent decision to stop playing music laden with expletives on its station. I am sure that they could have opted for a one-month hiatus for the month of December, but instead chose to permanently discontinue the practice and I heartily commend the Irie FM team. As a fan of dancehall music, I have become increasingly disenchanted with the lyrics associated with the music and have repeatedly questioned how and when media standards slipped to the extent that music with sexually explicit and/or violent lyrics is aired with standard beeps here and there at all hours of day and night.

To those who say this is what the market wants, I would reply that a spiral of silence and lazy thumbs (yes, you can touch that dial), coupled with an unimaginative media industry driven by selfish interests, have ensured that the Jamaican public is continuously subjected to demeaning and anti-social content. The media have the opportunity to expand human consciousness; they can take a stand and can make a difference. Thanks Irie FM and other similarly conscious stations for rising to the challenge. Hopefully the advertisers will lend their support.

I am, etc.,

A. Y. A.

trulyarlene@hotmail.com

Waterloo Mews

Kingston

Via Go-Jamaica