The blatant bureaucratic evasiveness in Emmanuel Delia's official statement on the question of Radju Bronja's fate (January 9) was hardly reassuring to listeners of Radju Bronja. Hidden in the unnecessary plethora of words were the following enigmatic statements: "There is no decision to axe classical music and culture programmes" or "The ministry can give an assurance that the bias for classical music and high culture will be retained" or "There is no decision to remove classical music and cultural programmes from the broadcasing of PBS".
As a matter of interest, which "published reports of ministerial speeches and press conferences" over the fate of Radju Bronja does Mr Delia's letter refer to?
What Mr Delia otherwise had to say was of total irrelevance. Letters to The Times about Radju Bronja were not "hysterical". Serious concern over Radju Bronja in letters to The Times was not expressed out of "awesome fear" of faceless philistines on the rampage.
Finally, culture, and anything related to it, are not "pretty nice". This kind of corny sarcasm has no place in an official letter from a government department.
What is worrying about the denials in Mr Delia's statement is the total absence of specific reference to Radju Bronja. None of the statements in Mr Delia's letter exclude the possibility that Radju Bronja, a station specifically dedicated to culture, will be taken off the air and replaced by little fragments of "culture" programmes broadcast here and there on other stations. It is also significant that Radju Bronja was singled out as a "big white elephant" in the Mimcol report.
Furthermore, the current Radju Bronja schedule ends at the end of this month and no arrangements exist for programmes beyond January. What happens after January? Producers, part-timers contributors, etc., involved in Radju Bronja programmes have not been told whether their services will be required beyond this point.
Far from being reassuring, the current situation in respect of Radju Bronja and the vague general statements in Mr Delia's letter suggest that Radju Bronja's fate has already been sealed.
What listeners of Radju Bronja really want to know is simply this: Will Radju Bronja remain as it is and continue to be broadcast on 91.7 FM as an exclusively cultural programme? Can Mr Delia therefore please come to the point and give us clear confirmation in plain language that Radju Bronja will remain on the air as it is?