Gov't calls for media to regulate itself

CASTRIES (CMC):

The St Lucia government says it wants the media here to regulate itself, insisting that it does not want to be involved in the exercise.

"There are many FM stations, many television stations operating in St Lucia. They are all competing for a very small market share and I think that has caused some of them to be very aggressive in their programming; to take some risks to try to be ahead of the pack and, unfortunately, that has happened in an environment that has not been regulated," said Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr James Fletcher.

He said the challenge now for the Kenny Anthony administration "is to try to put in place some sort of regime.

"Personally, I would like to see the media regulate itself. I am not a big fan of heavy government involvement or heavy State involvement in media regulation because sometimes there is a tendency, a possibility of an overreach," he said.