Dear Editor,
The National Commun-ications Network Incorporated (NCN) must be commended for a number of things. However, this is an era where radio broadcasting has gone crazy and NCN to some extent has suffered; they have lost a few good people and also they have slipped to a noticeable level of mediocrity.
My first word of thanks is for the four o’clock morning start; it is live, direct, appropriate and meaningful. The three religious segments (Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam) are really working out. I wish that they would be less repetitive though. Sometimes (on Saturdays and Sundays mostly) there are devotional thoughts during the Christian segment. The Early Bird Show is great on weekends. NCN has a most versatile presenter here, who is distinctly Christian, yet makes room for the universality of religion.
I think of the Triple M Show (The Music, The Magic, The Memory) and it remains a classic; the same can be said for ‘A Better World.’ The Breakfast Show is really top-notch stuff too and it could incorporate more than one presenter; the two ladies (Michella Abraham-Ali and Keane McRae) during the week and Henry Singh on Saturdays as is the case now. This six to nine period in the morning is very important. People want education, inspiration and yes, some entertainment; so far so good. It tops all the other morning radio shows, and all three presenters are really excellent.
What NCN must never do is to allow mediocrity, especially on the Voice of Guyana. Last Sunday, I got mediocrity galore, when one of their deejays emceed for N & S Mattai. This was aired on 100.1 Fresh FM and it left me in awe; it answered a question though: deejays must never be allowed to announce on the VOG channel.
There is no word like ‘voicerous’ and ‘agyoore.’ The former is really vociferous and the latter is the word ‘augur.’ When the emcee kept saying this I was cut-up; this kind of thing passes on to listeners and comes over at school. When the daughter of N & S Mattai came on at the end, I was flabbergasted; her language use was like that of an announcer. She should have had the honour of emceeing. I recall “one of your heart desire.” A Common Entrance kid knows that this should have been ‘one of your heart’s desires.’ ‘One of’ presupposes ‘out of more than one; it is ‘heart’s desires’ as it must incorporate the possessive case. Radio work must be more than entertainment, unless the goal is to keep some fools happy and nothing else.
A suggestion: I ask that the leaders of NCN take a good look at their shortcomings. They also must weed out flagrant ‘spoilers’ of the English language and announcers who just do not ‘fit.’ Generally, an announcer is a very easy speaker and a competent reader. Niceness of voice is too narrow and subjective. It is not good enough for the Voice of Guyana (especially) to be better than their competitors; they must maintain a great standard.
Yours faithfully,
Babita Sankar