freedom of speech by slapping tighter controls on local phone-in shows.

"It smells of a pre-election attempt to control talk shows and the airwaves in general,'' the lawyer charged.

But Telecommunications Minister the Hon. Mike Winfield said the new regulations, requiring talk show callers to give their full name and address before going on the air, were "to protect not restrict''.

A person who is libelled or maligned on the airwaves should be able to take action against the culprit, he said.

Mr. Hall did not believe the phone-ins should be used to "besmirch a person's reputation''. However, he saw no pressing need for the regulations to come into effect next month.

Set for debate this month, they were proposed by the independent Broadcasting Commission and tabled in the House of Assembly last Friday.

The MP said he knew of "not one single complaint of a person's reputation being besmirched'' by someone calling into radio and television talk shows such as News and Views and the Shirley Dill Show. "It's not as if the problem is all that prevalent,'' he said.

Government should instead be addressing a more serious problem involving letters to the editors of local newspapers, he said.

He understood The Royal Gazette had a requirement that letters should not contain personal abuse. However, that rule "seemed to have been breached many times'' recently.

He added that although it was The Royal Gazette's policy to get the names and addresses of people who write letters under pen-names, he did not know if this was the case at other local newspapers.

"I do not believe anyone should libel or slander anyone if they aren't able to back it up -- so I certainly do not believe the airwaves should be used to besmirch reputations whether the person is a public figure or an unknown,'' he said. "But I just don't see the justification for making the changes to the broadcast regulations at this time. I'd like to see some evidence that the regulations are required.'' Sen. Winfield was unable to provide any specific cases of harm being done to a person's reputation during phone-ins. He said the regulations had been drawn up by the Broadcasting Commission, chaired by Mrs. Louise Jackson.

Sen. Winfield added: "We do not regard the move as restrictive, because once the person gives their name and gets on the air, they can be as free as they like.''