117 Final Project

On October 11th of, 2022, the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica banned anything on TV, radio, or cable that had to do with or mentions or encourages any sort of illegal activities, profanities, things about getting money or getting wealthy, and other phrases or actions of that sort (Lewis, 2022). That was promoting this new policy by saying that these new banns and changes would keep their airways cleanThe government has said the ban is meant to cut back on material that “could give the wrong impression that criminality is an accepted feature of Jamaican culture and society”(The Guardian,2022)”.The goal of the broadcasting commission is to monitor and regulate free-air television, radio, and cable. Because that this does not have cost, however, this is the media that is accessible and most widely available to Jamaican consumers, especially in a country with so much poverty things that are free are likely to be a very widely used form of media overall. The Minister of Information Robert Morgan claimed that this is not a restriction on free speech because it is not banning the artists or entertainers and individuals, just preventing what is going on in public media spaces (Lewis,2022). The broadcasting commission’s statement said while there had to be regard for freedom of expression, content promoting criminality conflicted with the “tenets of responsible broadcasting” (Shad,2022).

This is not the first time that a rule like this with the same reasoning has happened, one of which was in 2009. A major critic of this ban was also a recipient of this previous banning. This critic is musician Stephen McGregor, a Jamaican Grammy Award-winning music producer and singer who has claimed his own music has been banned for references to guns and sex specifically various times (Shad,2022) In 2016 there, started to be the censoring and removal of “scamma songs”, notable among them was Xclusive’s Big Money Popping with the hugely popular refrain “Scamma dem deh yah”, which seemed to open a floodgate for songs of this nature (Peru,2022)”. In April 2021 also dancehall music, in general, was also again blamed at least some for the crime rate in Jamaica. “Prime Minister Andrew Holness repeated his previous and unequivocal criticism of the musical genre (Lewis,2022)”. This shows that this issue and blame have been continuous and have not really worked to change anything, as this rule has to keep being modified and reinforced.

Many criticize that this ban is simply an easy scapegoat that will not do anything to decrease the high crime rates. One reason behind calling this ban is scapegoat really is the argument that children all over the world listen to music with similar messages. Still, the crime rates all over the world are not the same. Therefore while some people may believe that the music has something to do with the crime rate is not the only factor that can be blamed for this (Shad,2022). Otherwise, if it were the only factor that has to do with crime rates, then all countries where people had exposure to the same messages in music then all countries would have the same high crime rate and drug issues. In addition to that factor also, the argument that youth are vulnerable to these messages is not really combatted by this regulation. This is because many younger audiences are using apps and websites such as Spotify for their music, for example, or Youtube for videos and media (The Guardian,2022). All of these platforms would still allow this banned content, so most of the audience can still get the same media they were consuming before on the same platforms for the most part they were using before as well. Ultimately because of that, the youth argument does not really stand up and is most likely not going to really have much of an impact. However, these arguments massively it also undermine and oversimplify the issues of violent crime rates and drugs in Jamaica and place the responsibility of them in the wrong place onto the wrong people. This has long been a long-standing problem, and between the poverty in the country, lack of care for people in different areas of the country, victim blaming, and all the issues that have only been expedited and worsened by huge economic issues because of the pandemic they have only increased and gotten worse (The Guardian,2022).

People are confused and mixed about this ban. Both artists and citizens have opinions on this ban. Some people want music to go back to just being fun, and some believe that this is like banning freedom of speech and that it is important for these stories to be able to be heard (Lewis, 2022). Many people in charge of these decisions are making entertainers who make this music that will have banned content on public airwaves as a moral issue due to the threat it promotes and how it could harm society. The driving force behind this decision is the hope that reducing music publicly heard seen or media consumed with violence promotes along with other illegal activities will help with the crime rate in Jamaica. The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica believes that music or videos on public airways to reduce the consumption of this type of media with these images and messages, especially to youth who are more susceptible to glorifying and following these messages in their eyes (The Guardian,2022). With all of this, the main goal of banning this type of media is to try to reduce the violent crime rate. Some people believe that the commission should not have to have stepped in because they should not have needed to step in. They believe that the system in charge of this music has failed as they should be regulating themselves, especially about things that are deemed as immoral or moral failures, and that they should be gatekeeping themselves without these regulations and bans in place (Peru,2022). Opposition is also warning them to be careful about being careful about the line between regulation and the politicization of these types of issues (RadioJamaicaNewsOnline,2022). It warns of what issues and criticisms could arise in the near future if they continue down this pass of pushing beyond just being a regulatory body.

Violent crime is a large issue in Jamaica and has been for years. However, many argue that a ban like this will have no effect on the high violent crime rate in Jamaica and actually perpetuates and misplaces blame on the issues going on in the country. Jamaica actually has the highest murder rate in Latin America and the Caribbean as of recently (Shad,2022), so it is an issue to be addressed, but the content consumed by the artists and many everyday people is not believed to be the root of the issue but instead is reflecting what is happening in Jamaican society (The Guardian,2022). Among these, Jamaica also has major issues with gun violence as a whole as well as gang activity. This is a valid worry and was reflected in other areas of society as well. Very soon after this ban was actually put into place, the Jamaican government declared a state of emergency due to the rise in crime in various areas of Jamaica (New York Post,2022). This state of emergency included various tourist locations, which would very much hurt the tourism rate of the country if there is such a large rate of violent crime against tourists, which would be detrimental to the Jamaican economy. This state of emergency was because of the fact in part because of the fact that there were over 1,000 murders between January 1 and November 12 of that year (New York Post,2022). It was mainly attributed to gang violence was decided as the biggest issue in this number which accounted for 71% of these (New York Post, 2022). One of the largest concerns among these numbers as well is because of the fact it was almost a 7% increase from the same time span in 2021, which was just a year earlier (New York Post,2022)

This is not isolated to just one span of time according to statistica, Jamaica is one of the most violent countries in the Caribbean. In 2022, there were approximately 52.9 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in the island nation (Statistica,2023). This was the highest homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean that year. Looking at the data as well, this is not even the highest rate that has happened, showing that this is not just an isolated issue but is a major issue in Jamaica which is a big problem with a homicide rate so high consistently (Statistica,2023). In this regard, there is a need for something to change in a meaningful and impactful way to try to actually reduce in the long run the violent crime rate in Jamaica since it is increasing. However, it is not anything new. Drug use is also another thing among youth that is an actual issue to focus on reducing. According to a Jamaica Gleaner article,” More Jamaican teenagers are dabbling in dangerous drugs such as molly and edibles…(Mundle,2022)”. This is just one example of issues with illegal drug usage, especially in teens and adolescents. This is a major issue that should not be taken lightly. However, it is not necessarily a direct correlation between teen drug usage and the music which they listen to. So while these issues are concerns to worry about, this music may not be to blame as much as it has been. There are many more factors that go into drug usage overall than just some music. It once again shows how another major issue is blaming something that may be unrelated to the big picture of it all. Still, the broadcasting agency is focusing more on regulating public media use instead of diving into the reality of the actual root of the problem.

This issue is much more complex than banning certain media will solve. The issues go beyond just what media people consume. The argument also of the fact the media is also reflective of culture is also important to consider when looking at issues like this which is one of the largest criticism of entertainers and musicians whose material is affected by these regulations. The fact that rules like this are continuously being put in place but not really having lasting effects shows that these regulations that are potentially crossing boundaries of what qualifies as free speech may not really be the best way to address it in the first place. Regulations such as these do not often stay just within the country as this ban in Jamaica has since sparked a global in addition to the local debate on the root issues trying to be addressed as well as the long-term effects and implications of the regulations on free speech and on the actual improvements they may or may on have on the crime rates and drug rates, especially within Jamaica.

Citations

Guardian News and Media. (2022, October 13). Jamaica Broadcasting Regulator Bans Music and TV deemed to glorify crime. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/13/jamaica-broadcasting-commission-regulator-bans-music-tv-deemed-to-glorify-crime

Lewis, E. (2022, October 18). Will banning music glorifying violence from the airwaves reduce Jamaica’s crime rate? Global Voices Advox. Retrieved from https://advox.globalvoices.org/2022/10/16/will-banning-music-glorifying-violence-from-the-airwaves-reduce-jamaicas-crime-rate/

Mundle, T. (2022, September 2). Molly Alarm as youth drug use under scrutiny. Lead Stories | Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved from https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20220902/molly-alarm-youth-drug-use-under-scrutiny

NBCUniversal News Group. (2022, October 13). Jamaica bans broadcasts deemed to glorify drugs or crime. NBCNews.com. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/jamaica-bans-broadcasts-deemed-glorify-drugs-crime-rcna52042

New York Post. (2022, November 16). Jamaica declares state of emergency over surging crime, including Tourist Hot Spot Montego Bay. New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2022/11/16/jamaica-declares-state-of-emergency-over-surging-crime-including-tourist-hot-spot-montego-bay/)

Peru, Y. (2022, October 14). Radio, television gatekeepers should be embarrassed – broadcasting commission exec. Entertainment | Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved from https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20221014/radio-television-gatekeepers-should-be-embarrassed-broadcasting

Shad, N. (2022, October 13). Jamaica bans music and TV glorifying crime. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-63247151

2022. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/984761/homicide-rate-jamaica/#:~:text=Jamaica%20is%20one%20of%20the,inhabitants%20in%20the%20island%20nation.

Opposition warns government against politicization of public … (2022, April 1). Retrieved from http://radiojamaicanewsonline.com/local/opposition-warns-government-against-politicization-of-public-broadcastinginformation-services