their political views and their opinions. And they have a right to those views without fear of threats. The controversy over radio talk shows has been with us for a long time and it always takes on added importance when there is any suggestion of an election. We suspect that is why talk shows are now in the news.

The importance of the shows and the freedom of expression they provide are not to be underestimated. Of course they will be political -- this is Bermuda -- and they will be controversial and they will contain strong opinion, that is their very nature and listeners can take it or leave it.

However, it has to be recognised that there are people who believe that these shows go to such extremes that they are counter-productive and that some of the views expressed tend to divide Bermudians and open wounds.

The companies which present the shows and the people who host the shows do have responsibilities. Freedom of speech and political opinions should certainly be welcome but the shows have a duty to deal with facts and not with lies and distortions.

To that end, talk shows should be "hosted'' by people with deep general and political knowledge who are able to use their own resources to keep the shows within the realm of fact. Too often that is not true of Bermudian talk shows.

There are many listeners who are able to sort fact from fiction and to view these shows simply as public entertainment and not as significant social or political comment. But there are also people who are not able to do so and who take much of the misinformation spoken as "gospel''. Separating the facts from the lies and distortions should be part of the hosts' job and too often they allow their callers to say untruths or libels which go uncorrected. That is not opinion and it is not a contribution to the political scene and it is not freedom of speech. With freedom there is responsibility and too often callers, many of whom know better, are simply irresponsible.

There is another factor which concerns us and should concern the hosts and the broadcasting companies. Very often these shows are dominated by the same relatively few people day by day over and over again. They have their points of view and they repeat them endlessly. That may be freedom for those few callers but it is not freedom for the listeners who are subjected to a kind of brainwashing, some of it, we believe, quite carefully planned. Too often these shows give the appearance of being a political tool for a very small group of people. That is not freedom because propaganda is designed to deny freedom.

To be truly free and open the shows should be free of planned campaigns and widely representative of the views of a cross section of Bermudians. To that end there should be easy access to the shows whereas right now general access seems to be denied by those few who dominate.