To the rescue

 Hasani Walters, Gleaner Writer

Advocacy group watches out for Broadcasting Commission slip ups

The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica is the foremost authority in monitoring and regulating the electronic media.

Of late, they have been receiving some amount of help from the watchful eyes of The Citizens Advocacy Group.

The non-profit, non-partisan group is attempting to fill the gap where the "regulator and broadcast entity administration" fails.

With the primary focus being to protect children from objectionable content by broadcasters, matters relating to the development of children, and general matters affecting human rights, The Citizens Advocacy Group has been monitoring various media and highlighting breaches.

On its Facebook group, the organisation has been posting what it deems violations, and the communication it has received from violators.

Among the more interesting complaints include cases that involve media such as CVM TV, FAME FM and TVJ.

One such case involves the song Talk That Talk by Rihanna and Jay-Z that was aired by FAME FM.

The group claims the station allowed the indecent term 'pee' from a line of the song, which reads "Had it by a bladder, she like oh I gotta pee", to be transmitted.

"As you may have already been aware, the term 'piss', and any derivatives thereof, is one of the seven clear-cut terms prohibited from broadcast radio and television at any time, according to the US [United States] broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission - which set the precedent in laws governing broadcast networks," a post on the page explains.

They also found an issue with CVM TV's airing of the programme, The Best of Sumfest 20, a summary of Reggae Sumfest 2012 performances.

The group says obscene and explicit sexual references were made during Back Way performed by Cham. They also pointed to lyrics promoting violence and glorifying the gun in Aidonia's performance of Thunderous Clap.

Additionally, violence against men who have sexual intercourse with men was also found in Aidonia's performance.

"... the graphic and derogatory term [derogatory expletive for homosexual] is prohibited from broadcast radio and television at any time" reads the content of the post addressing that issue.

Take urgent, decisive action

The post also cautions the Broadcasting Commission to take urgent and more decisive action against offenders.

Sponsors of Reggae Sumfest such as Red Stripe, Digicel and Iberostar Resorts were also blasted for having "proudly sanctioned, promoted and made this deplorable material possible over the public airwaves".

I-Octane's song, Brite Up, aired by FAME FM is said to contain "lyrics promoting violence and glorifying the gun and knife".

Brite Up contains lyrics and a similar theme to that of Popcaan's No Box Pon Jaw that was banned from the public airwaves in January.

"Suh likkle bwoy try nuh brite up/ I linky dem wi soil yuh white shut/ Cum a gwaan like sissy wid yuh eye cut/ Mi a tell yuh mine yuh get nike up," the song's chorus goes.

A "partially-edited version" of Dance A$$ (Remix) by Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj and Look At Me Now by Chris Brown were also said to be in violation.

Another example is that of TVJ's airing of the movie Rush Hour that caused inappropriate dialogue to be transmitted.

"Come on, come on! Tittie, tittie, tittie. Get them titties outta here." is said by actor Chris Tucker in the movie.

"As you may already know, "Tits", and any derivatives thereof, is one of the [obscene] words/terms prohibited from broadcast radio and television at any time," was the group's response.

There were no responses on the page from any of the media entities said to be in violation.