Broadcasters not stopping racial slurs, venom

He said this was evident from the number of complaints TATT continues to receive from aggrieved members of the public. Dr Henry said it was up to TATT to do something, as is provided for under the Telecommunications Act (2001).

He said TATT would have preferred "a greater level of civility" in the broadcast media. "We might have made some comments to that effect . . . that we expected a certain degree of civility.

There is no evidence to suggest to us that whatever self-regulation the broadcast media had developed among themselves has protected us, has protected the general public from the racial slurs, invective, and venom that we hear."

Dr Henry, who spoke at a media conference at the Tobago Hilton, further declared: "We are not about infringing press freedom. We are concerned about civility, respect for the diversity of our country!"

He added: "We don’t want on our watch to contribute to anything that takes our country to... antagonism, and even violence within our diverse population. Some of the comments that have been made on our radios and in our broadcast media suggest that and we have not heard the outcry from the broadcasters for those infractions.

"We are the ones, as a Telecommunications Authority, that receive letters, phone calls, from the public.

So, it is not about infringing press freedom, at all! We can agree and we can disagree, but where we disagree there must be at least some level of respect for one another." he said.

Yesterday’s press conference was the climax of TATT’s visit to Tobago, during which consultations were held with the island’s broadcasters and the general public. Dr Henry said there would be a follow-up visit to the island on issues raised about the Draft Broadcast Code as it affects Tobago.