Radio Jamaica Celebrating 70 Years

H e first performed for the public, at age four, and won several Festival gold medals for speech. However, Gerry McDaniel did not foresee a career in media. His aim was to excel in the sciences, which he had been doing at Manchester High for years. In 1982, he was asked to read a documentary at JBC radio central, which had a community-based philosophy. Dr. Aggrey Brown, who was then in charge of the station, heard his voice and suggested that he be offered a job at the station as an announcer. McDaniel took the job, and when he was unable to take up the option to study at the UWI, St Augustine campus, in Trinidad, he went to Kingston and was one of 30 students accepted into CARIMAC from a group of 200 applicants. At CARIMAC, he reunited with Dr. Brown and especially enjoyed his course in television production. In 1983, McDaniel auditioned at RJR and was accepted at the station but spent most of the next two years working at JBC television as a producer on the Where It’s At show. When he began working at RJR, McDaniel received intensive training from Henry Stennett before being put on air for various night time programmes, including Candlelight and Eleven to Forty . Eventually, he moved to Sunday programming but was unsatisfied with the format of the show he was presenting. In 2004, McDaniel was given the opportunity to create a show that would reflect what he wanted to showcase on radio. That show is Palav , the show that “teaches true respect for all”. McDaniel regards himself as an introvert but insists that his reticence does not reflect the value of the work he does on his show or for his SHARING WITH The Gerry McDaniel Journey JAMAICA Page 38 Sunday July 4, 2021 continues on page 39