Krem Radio and the freeing up of the media

By anthony sylvestre

It seems like such an eternity: November, 1989, that is. Indeed Belize has changed a heck of a lot since that time.

I recall being in second form of high school; the People’s United Party under the leadership of the Right Honourable George Price had months earlier, in September, returned to government after defeating the UDP by a 15-13 margin, when KREM Radio first bus’ on the scene.

The PUP had anchored its 1989 campaign with a threefold promise to free up the media.

The seeds of the new media policy germinated in Independence Hall in March, 1989 in an executive meeting, where the three revolutionary policies were fleshed out. The official PUP Press Release dated March 15^th, 1989 stated them as follows:

Radio: 1) Remove the then Belize Broadcasting Network from direct control of government to that of a statutory board; (2) create opportunities for open political dialogue between political parties on a regular basis; (3) Grant licences for private radio station on merit.

Television: (1) Television was to serve as the primary instrument of communication, entertainment, education and development; (2) there was to be an increase in locally produced programs and (3) offensive movies were NOT to be shown before midnight.

Press: (1) freedom of expression was to be jealously guarded and promoted; (2) the offence of “criminal libel’ was to be abolished (3) the role of the government information service was to be to inform the nation of activities of government and not to be abused by a ruling party to campaign for its own re-election.

I suppose many will say that those 1989 media policies which sought to abolish political censorship on radio and television were churned out because we PUPs between 1984 to 1989 ended up being victims of the state controlled media apparatus; that because we were punished by the UDP between ’84 – ’89 and were unable to obtain permission from the government for air time on the Belize Broadcasting Corporation to air political ads, we conveniently realized the extreme danger of the media being solely in the hands of the ruling government. Some others, still, will say that we failed at implementing the three policies to their satisfaction.

Whatever may be the merits of countervailing views, for me, back in November, 1989, the fact that there was now a radio station on air, playing dancehall and soca and reggae what seemed at all hours of the day was the most amazing and delightful thing to a teenager.

In those days, there was no cable- or rather, where I grew up no families had cable in their houses. The fact is, most of us had little 13 inch black and white televisions on which only two channels showed- Channel 5 and Channel 7. This got monotonous after a while, especially for us busybodies teenagers.

So when KREM Radio burst on the scene with the pumping music, we teenagers naturally gravitated towards it. Mose Hyde, whose deejay name back then was “Mad Rocker Mose’ had really the first day time music show. His, like most radio music shows, was between 3:00 to 5:00. But being first always put you in another category- even now the genre of music he mixed seems way cooler than now. But like they say, everyone believes his era was the coolest.

The unique flavor that Krem brought was later taken to higher heights when Dickie Bradley launched his Wednesday night talk show. Dickie’s wit, charm and animated personality mesmerized listeners- he truly was King.

Many PUPs may not share pleasant memories of Krem radio as I do. Indeed, many may still harbor an indifference or apathy towards the radio station, viewing it as part and parcel of the media apparatus which brought down the PUP. But for me, on this side, twenty years later, I am remembering the great teenage years that Krem brought to my life. Respect to Krem on its 20^th Birthday.

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