Bring Back Lyric FM's Jazz Programming

To:  RTE Lyric FM

To: Aodán Ó Dubhghaill, Head, RTÉ Lyric fm
Dear Mr. Ó Dubhghaill,
RTE’s Public Service Broadcasting Charter states:
“RTÉ shall, at all times, strive to reflect fairly and equally the regional, cultural and political diversity of Ireland and its peoples.”
In accordance with this principle, we strongly urge Lyric FM to reinstate in full its specialist jazz programming. The recent cutbacks are very extreme:
• a cut in total airtime from 5 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours; and
• only one hour goes out prior to 1 am now whereas all did before.
The reduced schedule is very unsatisfactory compared to other European public service broadcasters. It was introduced with no prior notice or explanation and no comparable reductions have been applied to other "specialist" genres such as contemporary classical and world music.
Apart from the impact on listeners this reduction in programming removes a vital platform for the promotion of Ireland's jazz musicians. This penalizes the success of recent developments in Irish jazz, which has been recognized by leading world figures such as US saxophonist Dave Liebman. Lyric FM should be supporting Irish music of all types and not stifling it.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Bring Back Lyric FM's Jazz Programming Petition to RTE Lyric FM was created by and written by Edward Hansom (limerickimprov@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.