ZNS is $14 million in debt because of bad decisions and poor management, according to Obie Wilchcombe, the Minister responsible for the Broadcasting Corporation.
The station has “tremendous problems right now,” said the minister, “We’re $14 million in debt. We owe money.”
But he said. “I don’t complain about things. I know what reality is and it is my job to correct it.”
The ministersaid the corporation must become more competitive. The news should be news, he said.
there is a need for documentaries and investigative stories. He said he plans to attract betterbroadcasters and give Bahamians an reason to watch and listen.
“We are going to be the voice of The Bahamas,” he said.
The minister said there is still a need for a public radio and television station but it should not be subsidised “till it becomes a nightmare.”
He said ZNS has the country’s only gospel station, a captive audience. “You can’t go anywhere. If you’re a Christian you’re a Christian.”
And yet, the station does not reach beyond Nassau. That will soon change said the minister.
He said though the corporation has had to compete with private radio stations since 1994, they have done nothing.
The minister said he believes in competition. “Let the best station win,” he said.
Mr. Wilchcombe said when he was an athlete he did not worry about competition. “Let them wory about me,” he added.
The broadcasting corporation has a good board now and he has not tried to control it, he said.
ZNS plans to support more local productions instead of spending thousands and millios of dollars on foreign programming, he said.
ZNS has not tried to do the investigative stories it could. “When it does, this will draw people,” he said.
The station has been used for the wrong reasons, he said.
Though it is obvious ZNS does not influence elections both the PLP and FNM tried and failed to do this, said the minister.
“The Bahamian people aren’t fools,” he said. “Why do some people still believe they are?”
By Diminic Duncombe, The Tribune
