“DAGGERING” AND THE REGULATION OF QUESTIONABLE BROADCAST MEDIA CONTENT IN JAMAICA

Abstract

Abstract In 2008, a new style in Jamaican dancehall music and dance culture known as “Daggering” emerged. Daggering music and dancing, which included lyrics that graphically referred to sexual activities and a dance which has been described as “dry sex” on the dance floor, took Jamaica by storm. Unlike other dancehall traditions, however, Daggering went so main stream that both television and radio stations were airing audio and video recorded versions of the songs. The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica was forced, because of the public controversy that evolved, to crack down on broadcasting and cable stations preventing them from playing any Daggering content. This article focuses on the subsequent clash between the government and the dancehall, and seeks to identify an appropriate method for monitoring and enforcing these new standards. Notes Directive on the Transmission of Sexually Explicit Content, Broadcasting Commission of Jam., Feb. 6, 2009 (Jam.)., available at http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/uploads/content_page_files/BCJ%20Directive%20-%20Feb62009.pdf (last visited Jan. 4, 2011). Id. Kevin O’Brien Chang & Wayne Chen, Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music ix-x (1998). O’Brien Chang and Chen suggest that, while Rastafarianism as a music theme was appealing to foreigners, it did not have a “deep or broad” appeal for Jamaicans. It “became increasingly obvious that it was made with a primarily overseas audience in mind.” This was the context in which the deejay music became popular in Jamaica. Deejay music was the precursor to the Dancehall era in Jamaican music. Id. See id. See also Edward Seaga, Reggae and Dancehall A Cultural Clash, The Gleaner Online, Feb. 22, 2009, http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090222/focus/focus3.html (last visited Mar. 8, 2009). See O’Brien Chang, supra note 3, at 44–45. See Nadisha Hunter, Daggerin’ Dangers: Dance Could Cause Damage, Warns Doc, The Gleaner Online, Feb. 14, 2009, http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090214/life/life1.html (last visited Mar. 8, 2009). Id. Thus, in the United States it is against the law to air obscene material at any time, but profane or indecent material may be aired between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The FCC administers these laws and has the authority to “revoke a station license, impose a monetary forfeiture, or issue a warning if a station airs obscene, indecent, or profane material.” Obscene Indecent and Profane Broadcasts: FCC Consumer Facts, http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/obscene.html (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). Martin Mordecai, State Policy, Global Trends and Regulation in Broadcasting: The Case of Jamaica, in Globalization, Communications and Caribbean Identity 198, 199 (Hopeton S. Dunn ed.,1995). Id. Early European programming was non-commercial and supported by taxes, while Canada, because of its history as a colony and its proximity to the United States, “[D]eveloped a hybrid regulatory/programming framework with elements of both systems.” Id. Nickesia S. Gordon, Media and the Politics of Culture: The Case of Television Privatization & Media Globalization in Jamaica (1990–2007) 28 (2008). See Mordecai, supra at note 9, at 200. See id. at 201. See also Aggrey Brown, Mass Media in Jamaica, in Mass Media and the Caribbean 11, 19 (Stuart H. Surlin & Walter C. Soderlund eds., 1990). Mordecai, supra note 9, at 202. See id. Id.at 202. CARIMAC trains journalists, awarding both bachelor's and master's degrees. See About Us, http://mona.uwi.carimac.com/about-us (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). Brown, supra note 13, at 18. See alsoCinzia Padovani, Would We Create it if it Did Not Exist? The Evolution of Public Broadcasting in Jamaica 6 (2008) (unpublished paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Montreal, Quebec), available at http://www.allacademic.com/one/www/www/index.php?cmd=www_search&offset=0&limit=5&multi_search_search_mode=publication&multi_search_publication_fulltext_mod=fulltext&textfield_submit=true&search_module=multi_search&search=Search&search_field=title_idx&fulltext_search=Would+We+Create+It+If+It+Did+Not+Exist%3F+The+Evolution+of+Public+Broadcasting+in+Jamaica=www_search&offset=0&limit=5&multi_search_search_mode=publica tion&multi_search_publication_fulltext_mod=fulltext&textfield_submit=true&search_ module=multi_search&search=Search&search_field=title_idx&fulltext_search=Would+ We+Create+It+If+It+Did+Not+Exist%3F+The+Evolution+of+Public+Broadcasting+ in+Jamaica (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). Id. See Mordecai, supra note 9, at 202. See id. Id. at 204. See id. Id. at 205. Mordecai wrote that the authority was not pro-active and, when the 1974 authority board's term expired in 1977 and a new body was not appointed, it was not missed. Between 1977 and 1986 there was no regulatory body, Mordecai wrote. Id. Id. Broadcasting and Radio Re-diffusion Act, 1949, Cap. 47, Schedule 1 Section 12(3)) 1.(1) (Jam.). See Mordecai, supra note 9, at 206. Broadcasting and Radio Re-diffusion Act, 1949, Cap. 47, § 23(1) (Jam.). Id., at § 23(2) (giving the Commission the authority to prescribe penalties up to $10,000 in fines and twelve months imprisonment). Id. Brown, supra note 13, at 18. Id. Padovani, supra note 18, at 7. Id. at 8. Id. See also Marlene Cuthbert, Popular Music in Peripheral Contexts: II, in Music at the Margins: Popular Music and Global Cultural Diversity 84, 87 (Deanna Campbell Robinson, Elizabeth B. Buck & Marlene Cuthbert eds.,1991). See id. at 9. See Brown, supra note 13, at 19. This includes in 1974, the daily call-in program “Public Eye” which continues to be broadcast today. Id. Marlene Cuthbert, Mass Media in National Development: Governmental Perspectives in Jamaica and Guyana, 23 Caribbean Q. 90, 91 (Dec. 1977) (noting that leaders in developing countries in the 1970s were trying to define the role their media should fulfill to meet national interests, rather than blindly applying first-world media values). See id. at 94. Gordon, supra note 11, at 129. Id. See Padovani, supra note 18, at 10. See id. See Brown, supra note 13, at 19. Padovani, supra note 18, at 10. Id. See Gordon, supra note 11, at 37. See id. See id. at 11. The decision to divest has been credited to the long history of government interference and bias of the JBC. Id. See id. at 4. See id. See id. See Mordecai, supra note 9, at 208. See id. See Padovani, supra note 18, at 4. See The Broadcasting and Radio Re-diffusion Act, 1949, Cap. 47, § 11A (Jam.). See Padovani, supra note 18, at 4. See Gordon, supra note 11, at 56–57. See id. See Eve Salomon, Guidelines for Broadcasting Regulation, at 9 ¶ 1.2, available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183285e.pdf (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). Sometimes these regulations protect “citizens from harmful material” but, at other times, governments use these restrictions to “maintain strict government control” and “prevent opposition views and opinions from being heard.” Id. at 9 ¶1.3. See id. Id. Aggrey Brown, The Mass Media of Communications and Socialist Change in the Caribbean: A Case Study of Jamaica, 22 Caribbean Q. 43, 47 (Dec. 1976). Id. at 49. Id. Padovani, supra note 18, at 7. One reason for this was that JBC was financed mainly through advertising. See also Gordon, supra note 11, at 34. Brown, supra note 13, at 19. JBC was one of the first users in Jamaica of the satellite dish, pirating without permission programs from the United States, causing Congress to add a rider to the Caribbean Basin Initiative preventing countries that pirated satellite material from receiving benefits under CBI. Id. Gordon, supra note 11, at 81. Introductory Comments, Part I: Mass Media in the Caribbean, in Mass Media and the Caribbean 7 (Stuart H. Surlin & Walter C. SoderLund eds., 1990). See also Cordel Green, Draft Speaking Notes presented at IIC International Regulators Forum, OFCOM, London 6 (Oct. 21, 2007), available at http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/uploads/speeches_and_presentations/IIC%20ANNUAL%20CONFERENCE%20PRESENTATION%202007.pdf. (last visited Feb. 24, 2010). Green, executive director of the Broadcasting Commission, has noted the importance of focusing on “indigenous” or “local content” for a global audience. For Green, poor countries benefited more from investments in content and applications than in technology. He wrote that developing countries are usually consumers of content, and not capable of becoming leaders in technology research and development. Id. Gladstone Wilson, Local Music and Jamaican Politics: The 1972 Election, in Caribbean Popular Culture 98, 100 (John Lent ed. 1990). Marlene Cuthbert, Cultural Autonomy and Popular Music: A Survey of Jamaican Youth, 12 Communication Res. 361, 388 (1985). See id. Anita Waters, Rastafari and Reggae in Jamaican Politics: Race, Class and Political Symbols 103 (1989). Id. Id. at 102. Cuthbert, supra note 71, at 388. Id. See id. at 389. See Norman Stolzoff, Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica 99 (2000). Id. See id. at 111. Frederic Cassidy & Robert Brock Le Page, Dictionary of Jamaican English 412 (2002). Carolyn Cooper, Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture at Large 3 (2004). Id. Marcia A. Forbes, Music, Media and Adolescent Sexuality in Jamaica 90 (2010). Id. Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae: The Definitive Guide to Jamaican Music, From Ska Through Roots to Ragga 261 (1997). Id. Carolyn Cooper, Noises in the Blood: Orality, Gender and the “Vulgar” Body of Jamaican Popular Culture 139 (1995). Id. at 141. Cooper sees slackness combining with culture to create “a politics of subversion.” Id. Id. Id. (emphasis in original). See Stolzoff, supra note 79, at 54. See id. at 56. See O’Brien Chang, supra note 3, at 49. See Seaga, supra note 4. See O’Brien Chang, supra note 3, at 105. See also Seaga, supra note 4. Seaga credits Yellow Man with openly introducing “sexual references in the lyrics. This was wildly accepted by the crowds, especially women.” Asked why he ventured in this direction, Yellowman replied, “Is slackness de people want and is slackness I ah give dem.” Id. See Seaga, supra note 4. Id. Kenneth Bilby, Jamaica, in Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae 173 (Peter Manuel, Kenneth Bilby & Michael Largey eds., 1995). See O’Brien Chang, supra note 3, at 81. Donna P. Hope, Inna Di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica 17 (2007). Id. Id. at 27. Id. at 130. See also Cooper, supra note 89, at 136. Cooper contextualizes slackness lyrics within a cultural setting — the dancehall — and sees it as a reflection of the setting. “Pum pum” is “a Jamaican term for the female sex organ.” Urban Dictionary, available at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pum%20pum (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). “Buddy” is a Jamaican term for “the male genital.” Jamaican Slang Glossary Words and Phrases, Speak Jamaican.com, http://www.speakjamaican.com/glossary/ (last visited Dec. 28, 2010) See Merry Go Round, The Daily Gleaner, May 28, 1969, at 6. See Barrow et al., supra note 87, at 268. Few Jamaicans from the upper echelons know that General Echo, best known for his Jamaican number one deejay hit Arleen, was also “the master of slack chat,” and delivered Lift up your dress Fat Gal, Stretch to Fit, and Cockie don't Beg Friend and similar tunes in dancehall circles, the lyrics of all of which are as provocative as those in the Daggering genre. Id. See also Ranking Slackness — Slackest LP, Roots Archives, http://www.roots-archives.com/release/1463 (last visited Jan. 4, 2011). Admiral Bailey is best known for his 1980s hit, Gimme Punaany. Among Shabba Ranks’ hit songs are Hard and Stiff and Love Punaany Bad. See Barrow et al., supra note 87, at 340. Teino Evans, Not “Slack” — But Surviving, Sunday Gleaner, Nov. 13, 2005, at E10 (listing Vybz Kartel, Elephant Man, Sizzla, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer as artists who often produced highly sexual content, often not fit for airplay). Id. The lyrics of Gimme Punaany include: “Gimme Punaany/Wa’an’ Punaany/Coolie Punaany/Chinie [transl. Chinese] Punaany/Whitey Punaany/Blackie Punaany/Any Punaany is the same Punaany/…Gimme Punaany Aids haffe take me.” See Howard McGowan, “Punaany” Replaces “Shake You Down,” Daily Gleaner, May 7, 1987, at 6. Andre Fanon, Is Dance Hall Music a Creative Force?, Daily Gleaner, Nov. 29, 1988, at 14. Id. See Vegas Joins Dancehall Greats, Daily Gleaner, Aug. 20, 2000, at 11E. Beenie Man has had a slew of slack songs including Slam, a reference to the sexual act. The lyrics to Slam include: “Gimme di gal dem wid di wickedest slam /Di kinda gal weh know fi love up she man Man if yuh wa’an fi get di medal/Yuh haffi get ah slam from ah real ghetto gal.” He also had Sim Simmer, with lyrics, “Yu ever buck a gal weh deep like a bucket/draw fi yu needle and yuh needle can't stitch it.” Translation: “Have you ever met a girl who is deep like a bucket [reference to sex organ], when you draw your needle [reference to male penis] your needle can't stitch it.” Jason Latty, Jamaica's Morality is Endangered, Daily Gleaner, Jan. 18, 1998, at 16B. Hope, supra note 102, at 16–17. Id. Id. at 17–18. See Cordel Green, Regulating in the Digital Age (presentation Powerpoints, CARIMAC, Nov. 2009), available at http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/uploads/speeches_and_presentations/FINAL%20CARIMAC%20PRESENTATION%20-%20NOVEMBER%202009.pdf (last visited Feb. 6, 2010). Id. Fame FM broadcast a song one Thursday at 6:30–6:45 a.m. with the following lyrics: “Ain't no punk-ass nigga's set trippin/If you can't take the heat get yo’ass out the kitchen I still got to worry about those snitchass niggas/That's why I pack my 45.” Hitz 92 FM broadcast a song during one Saturday at 9–9:30 a.m., with the following lyrics: Firs’ Mi tease up Nicky titty … suh mi nuh pity dem/Put ‘ar pan the edge, mek shi climb pan di stem. Get up/Shi a wine a brace pan di turn/Shi get tenda an’ fragile like a bird. Shi nah run fram it because shi ave di nerve fi climb pan di sitten/Shi get wah shi deserve. Come yah gal, tun it roun an’ gimme gal/Fling it up an’ bubble yah. … Green, supra note 124. Zip 103 FM broadcast a song during a Friday noon-1 p.m. time slot with the following lyrics: [G]al fe get ‘daggerin’ a dat bragga she/man a dagger man, no sah dat fe guh weh/tell some dutty nasty gal fe guh weh.” Irie FM broadcast a song during a 7:15–7:30 p.m. slot on Friday with the following lyrics: “Have some fat….˙Pussy……. gal/Fi ….˙f**k…. weh mek you neva waan leave yard no/Jamaican girls look good/Strong and dem sexy/And buss di yam and banana/couldn't pepsi/The way dem grip mi pon mi….cocky. Green, supra note 124. Id. Green also said that the use by some stations of editing material such as “bleeping” and “beeping” was not effective in obscuring offensive material. Id. U.S. Const. amend. 1 provides: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Jam. Const. § 22 (1962). See, e.g., Attorney General of Antigua v. Antigua Times, [1976] A.C. 16 (holding that while an Antiguan statute requiring newspaper publishers to acquire a license at the cost of $600 per annum was unconstitutional, the license fee was allowed since it fell within another section of the constitution which allowed taxes to raise money in the interest of “defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health and the tax was reasonably required to protect the reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons.” Ant. & Barb. Const. § 10(2)(a)(ii).). Jam. Const. § 22(2)(a)(ii). Broadcasting and Re-diffusion Act, 1949, Cap. 47, § 3(1) (Jam.). See also id. at § 3(2), which provides that the penalty for breaching this law is J$10,000 for each day during which the illegal broadcast took place. The Broadcasting Commission was created by the Broadcasting and Radio Re-diffusion Act, 1949, Cap. 47, § 12 (Jam.). Broadcasting and Radio Re-diffusion Act, 1949, Cap. 47, § 11(E) (Jam.). Id. at § 16 (d). Id. at § 16 (e). Id. at § 16 (f). Broadcasting and Radio Re-diffusion (Amendment) Act, 2008, Act No. 11, § 4 (Jam.). Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/thecommission/index.htm (last visited Mar. 23, 2009). Observer Publ’n Ltd. v. Campbell, the Comm’r of Police and the AG (Privy Council Appeal No. 3 of 2000). Id. (2001) 58 W.I.R. 188. Id. at ¶ 4. The fact that the prime minister and his family members were granted a license during the privatization process negated the justifiable ground of a halt to awarding licenses pending privatization. Central Broad. & Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha v. A.G. of Trinidad & Tobago (Privy Council Appeal No. 49 of 2005 (July 4, 2006)), available at Judgments, Council (last visited Dec. 29, 2010). v. of and (2001) 58 Id. at The Commission Not Jamaica Gleaner Online, Mar. 2009, (last visited Mar. 29, 2009). Id. Dunn also that who public and in public should crack down on the slack lyrics. Id. See also Carolyn the Sunday Gleaner, Jan. 6, at media have been monitoring their content. as Irie Jamaica's first radio a not to the versions of tunes to be for — the station to the versions of songs. said this was in an to up the … It is one to out a … but to a song with like an it not make at Daily Online, 8, (last visited Mar. 2009). have also been for slack content under other In popular Bounty Killer and were to of in the Town under the Town and Act for indecent at the popular in In that same a of and including and and Jamaican Bounty Beenie Man, Elephant Man and were under the Town and Act for profane at Town & Act, Cap. § 9 provides that who any indecent, or obscene song or use any indecent or obscene be to “a penalty not or to with or without for a not See Mordecai, supra note 9, at See id. Salomon, supra note at ¶ Id. at ¶ Green, supra note at Id. Salomon, supra note at This is so the of may from to Id. at ¶ Id. at ¶ Id. at ¶ See also id. at ¶ she that, while some material appropriate for in the United States, offensive is more be during the which in that in of the Id. at ¶ Id. at ¶ Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, available at (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). the is — of the and and Radio — which are not For of and to that the research be these be referred to as Part I and Part II, with their The under Part and Radio Television are also not but and be referred to with with the in the is also without and for be with this section the have been and the be Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part I of the § (Jam.). Id. at Part Radio and A. Id. at Id. at Id. at The is or See Cassidy et al., supra note at in Jamaican is a of … or and is to or Id. is a Jamaican or See Jamaican Words & available at (last visited Jan. 4, 2011). Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part Radio and A. (Jam.). Salomon, supra note at ¶ See, e.g., of on Television available at (last visited Dec. 29, 2010). The which of for shall not be the as 9 to 6 See also The Broadcasting Dec. § available at (last visited Dec. 28, 2010). is an body that The Broadcasting Dec. § provides for a between a.m. and 9 during which time material for should not be Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part I of the (Jam.). Broadcasting Commission of Jam. Television and Sound Broadcasting May 14, provides: who provides television shall not than between the of in the and 4 the following of § 10 (1995). See Salomon, supra note at ¶ Id. Id. at ¶ are in the when may not have their to to Id. at ¶ In Canada, all programs broadcast the 9 p.m. be by a See 1987, In Jamaica, are required to issue for all programs that are Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part Radio and Television C. Television and Radio (Jam.). This includes the the programming and the of the content in the program that be to in to to make an Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part Radio and Television C. Television & Radio (Jam.). See Salomon, supra note at ¶ In are for programs and these at a on the Id. at ¶ See Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part I of the ¶ (Jam.). The for provides on of and sexual content. Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part Radio and A. Part and A. and Part Radio and A. (Jam.). See also Id. Part Radio and B. Broadcasting Commission of Jam. of Aug. 8, Part I of the ¶ provides television be on each See Salomon, supra note at ¶ (noting the to this is that, as with an by the United 4, in to for to the programs also and that an or should rather than a id. at ¶ Id. See, e.g., Broadcasting Commission of Jam. Television and Sound Broadcasting May 14, which of which against or public Id. at ¶ countries in their a that in or but this should be and to the as a of Id. See also Broadcasting Commission of Jam. Television and Sound Broadcasting May 14, which content is to or or to a of the Id. at ¶ For Salomon, a of rights it is to in the regulatory a prohibiting the broadcast of any material which may on the of sex or Id. Jamaica's Television and Sound Broadcasting about “the or sex of any European on Television Salomon, supra at note at ¶ Id. at for that a popular television that has been in countries the the of with each … has regulatory in the United States and but in the States are from their for of the of content and Id. Broadcasting Commission of Jam. Television and Sound Broadcasting May 14, (Jam.). Id. at See id. See id. The regulations also broadcast of or on “the or sex of any or Broadcasting Commission of Jam. Television and Sound Broadcasting May 14, & (Jam.). Id. at Id. at Broadcasting Commission of Jam. for Aug. 8, Part I of the (Jam.). Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica Television and Sound Broadcasting May 14, (Jam.). See v. U.S. See FCC v. U.S. Salomon, supra note at 49 ¶ Id. at 49 ¶ Id. that such research be and, for some broadcast Id. Id. at 49 Id. at 49 ¶ Id. at ¶ Thus, she the importance of being of content Id. at ¶ This is since “the reason for a license to get regulatory is a of content while other regulatory such as of and of be without Id. Id. at ¶ Id. at ¶ The Broadcasting