Kiss 92 fined for breaching radio code with racial stereotypes

An SPH owned radio station, Kiss 92, which was taken to task on 11 January by listeners for a racist segment it aired has been fined $7,000 for breaching the Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

The segment which aired on the ‘Maddy, Jason & Arnold in the Morning’ show, talked about the lack of sleep Singaporeans get and expressed surprise that “Malays and Indians get less sleep…because they’ve been raised to have fun, party.”

Radio Jockey (RJ) Maddy subsequently put up an apology for the comments in the radio’s Facebook page, but it was slammed as being faux apology.

Facebook user Sjanies van Zwienen pointed out that the RJ’s apology is “sorry if you got offended” instead of “Sorry for our behaviour.”

Swapna Abhilash said that if the radio station and the RJ thought that they did not do anything wrong, they should not apologise.

Maressa Zahirah identifying herself as having media background asked the radio station to release the recording of the segment if they thought that the words were taken out of context.

IMDA concluded that the programme contravened the Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code which SPH Radio as a free-to-air broadcaster is expected to comply with.

An important obligation under the Code is for broadcasters to avoid racial and religious stereotyping and ensure that content which denigrates or is likely to offend the sensitivities of any racial or religious group in Singapore is not aired.

IMDA reminded all broadcaster to be mindful of the strong influence radio exerts on the community and its accessibility to all Singaporeans, and to comply with all obligations under the Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code.