The Editor, Sir:

In your news item on page A 11, Friday, October 24, titled 'Call for media ban on murder images' I am reported as saying (at the Caribbean Child Research Conference) that gory images in the media are here to stay. And: "You have to live with the sensational media because they are not going to change."

The story was reported in such a way that it seemed I was suggesting that we should approve of these portrayals. What I was, in fact, saying was that while we all disapprove of these deplorable images, we were basically powerless to change the media's presentation. I pointed out that we should bear in mind that media are, first and foremost, profit-making entities. They are private enterprises where the dollar is the bottom line. This is the reality we should bear in mind.

Socialising agents

Media have the power to select the issues we talk and think about. In many instances, they have become such important parts of our daily life that they may be considered, especially for children, socialising agents.

Against this background, my point was that we should not waste our energy trying to change the media. We have been doing that for the last 20 years, without too much success. Calls for censorship are an outdated strategy given the almost unlimited access that many of our teenagers and children have to a wide variety of media, including the Internet and other electronic sources of information.

Instead, I emphasised, we should focus on the influence of parents, who can and should play more active roles in guiding their children. We know from research that this strategy is most effective in preparing them for the real world.

I am, etc.,

Drs MARJAN de BRUIN

Director, Caribbean Instituteof Media and Communication, CARIMAC

University of the West Indies,

Mona, Kingston