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Dear
Unathi,
I
trust you are well on this chilly Johannesburg morning.
After
much hesitation, but with a lot of consideration, I have decided to pen you
this open letter. Do not take anything written here as a personal attack on
your overall character. I do not know you in a personal capacity; therefore all
views expressed here onwards are solely based on you as a Metro FM morning show
co-host.
I
will first revert to two incidents from last week.
A
metro FM listener called on Wednesday morning, to comment about a topic you
guys were discussing about twerking. She directed a comment to you about how
you should allow young girls to twerk as it was their form of dance equivalent
to bumping and grinding back in your days (making reference to R. Kelly’s Bump
‘n Grind). She had obviously not heard your initial statement, where you had
said YOU wouldn’t allow YOUR daughter to twerk. And Glen was kind enough to
point out this little fact to her, in a polite manner. From what I had heard,
she was about to respond and say that she obviously had misheard you [thought
you had meant all girls in general]. Now you Mrs Msengana had to take the final
jab at this listener and tell her that she needs to learn to listen. Your exact
words were “if we are going to respect each other we have to learn to listen…
Learn to listen… I said my daughter”… MEOW!! Catty much? I frankly found it so unnecessary (because
Glen had already checked her and informed her of her inaccuracy…) and just
downright rude. It came across like you were ganging up on her and trying to put
her in her place. Exactly which part about her response made you feel
disrespected? So she misheard you, big deal. Correct her and keep it moving.
There is no need to exasperate the situation and make it out to be something it
is not. It just made you look like a mean, old bully.
I
have noticed you have a tendency of making listeners look small. In isiZulu we
would say “Uyaphoxana”. I guess with time you have learned to conceal it so
well, that even you miss it.
Then
on Friday, the kids were calling in and saying which soccer team they supported.
One kid (Khosi if I remember correctly) called in. You asked him, what he
thought of Beckham’s retirement. Now obviously you caught him off guard, as
initially you were just asking the other kids about which teams they supported.
His mother decided to help him out with a short answer (the same way she was
kind enough to correct you when you called her son a HER). You thereafter told
this little boy, to tell his mother that she can call in for herself if she
wants to express what she thought of Beckham’s retirement. The bloody nerve of
you! You were most definitely out of line. Have you never helped your kids out
when they were in a sticky situation? I know, as a mother, I have prompted my
son plenty of times when I see he will battle or is battling with something.
And that is how he learns. And no teacher will come and tell me how and when I
should prompt my child. The same principal from Wednesday applied here: you did
not like the Wednesday caller telling you how to handle your daughter. How dare
you tell this mother not to prompt her son? Even though you didn’t flat out
verbalize it, it is what you meant. And to top it all off you have the audacity
to use her son as a messenger boy. Shame on you! Once again you felt the need
to “check” this mother on her behavior.
Time
and time again I have observed this as a common character of yours, which you
bring with you every morning to the show. You put people in check and bring
orderliness. It is like you are the disciplinarian of the show. You do it with
your co-hosts and you do it with the listeners. Well it is distasteful. It
makes listeners like me very uncomfortable. The platform you have is not for
that. I understand if someone is being rude to you or openly disrespectful.
Even then, there are ways to handle it, without you losing your cool. And don’t
think because people can’t see you, they cannot feel your tone (which often
drips of sarcacism, arrogance, bit*hyness and impudence). You cannot run the
show like you are running your household. The listeners are your bosses. Our
tax money pays and maintains much of the SABC. And just because you take the
call, doesn’t make you superior. You must understand you will get all types of
callers and yes some will get on your last nerve but how you handle them is important
on how your listeners view YOU. I don’t tune in to Metro to hear people call
in- I tune in to hear you guys (Glen, Mel and the rest of the crew). It is not
pleasant and very unprofessional.
My
next gripe with you, if not the worst, is how you speak over people, as if your
views are more profound than the next persons. I can only imagine what a
nightmare a dinner party with you must be, if your interaction with your team
is anything to go by. You cut people off!!! ALL. THE. DAMN. TIME. Has no one told
you? Anyone? Someone? I have sat in traffic for years while listening to your
show and you always do it. I’m not sure if it’s because you have a short memory
span and don’t want to forget what you were about to say, or maybe you feel
your point will be more valid, or you just simply like the sound of your own
voice. Either way it’s aggravating and rude. On many occasions you have given
inaccurate information or your knowledge on whatever topic being discussed was
slightly skewed. And it took one comment (when you did finally pause) from Glen
or Melanie to correct you. You are not a one man show. I understand you won’t
always be right (although more times than not you think you are) but maybe if
you gave others a chance to talk, you could learn something without first
laying your ignorance for the world to see. Learn to breath. Pause. Talk. You
are not presenting Castle Loud anymore.
I
am genuinely bringing up these points because I love the show. I have tried to
change radio stations and find entertainment elsewhere in the mornings. But I
have found myself crawling back with my tail between my legs because I miss the
morning mixes, Carmen, the smack down and some of the entertaining content. The
show is amazing. It is light, funny, entertaining and very engaging. I love how
it is not always work, but there is an element of play. I love Glen’s
ridiculousness and boldness (laced with arrogance), I adore Melanie’s
intellect, acumen and lady like demeanor and I appreciate your street savyness
and fortitude. You guys do a phenomenal job of brightening up the beginning of
every working day. I would never take that away from you.
I
trust I have been authentic enough with my deliverance of these issues that
bother me. And I am aware this is currently an isolated opinion. I hope you do
not dismiss it as another black-on-black sister hate or bad case of PHD (pull
her down syndrome) but rather you take it as constructive criticism.
Regards,
An
avid First Avenue listener, Namhlavia http://bit.ly/191Ftzw
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