Radio Jamaica Celebrating 70 Years

Page 60 Sunday July 4, 2021 RJR has had some of the most highly rated news editors, journalists, and presenters in the history of Jamaican media. The first of these editors to leave a lasting impact was J.C. Proute, who was also an editor at The Gleaner. Proute was followed by the legendary Janette Mowatt. She was followed by David Ebanks. Then after Ebanks, there was Jennifer Grant, Moya Thomas, and now, Milton Walker. Among all these top professionals, Janette Mowatt stood out. Managing Director Gary Allen was voluminous in his praise of Mowatt: “I think the larger-than- life editor at RJR was Janette Mowatt. She was our first female news editor, and she led a stream of others who became head of news for the Group. She was the epitome of the stalwart journalist who managed the newsroom tightly whether it was news, sports, or whatever other items of interest came to the newsroom, whether political or otherwise. The number of journalists, who developed under her tutelage was significant. She was responsible for my entry into Radio Jamaica and also recruited Cliff Hughes, David Geddes, Stafford Perkins, and Michael Sharpe. One of Janette’s great strengths was that she would approach an interview in the same manner regardless of who the interview subject was. So a prime minister got the same treatment as the man on the street. Her thing was to identify what the news story was, ensure that it was accurate, and then present that story. It was always the news value that counted.” David Ebanks, on the other hand, was more of an all-rounder. He hosted the morning show as well as Exposure and presented election coverage. He also did special assignments and had a tremendous amount of experience. Ebanks even covered the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Jennifer Grant was noted for her dexterity and all-round capabilities. She was also the features editor at RJR and had a programme named Features Magazine , which aired at 7:15 each night, that highlighted all kinds of stories. One memorable story was when it was announced that gold had been found in St Thomas and people were rushing out to St Thomas in a Jamaican THE OF NEWS G I A N T S gold rush. Grant, in her signature black and red VW, led the way. Grant would feature off-the-wall, rustic, Jamaican stories, and although she was English-born and very prim and proper, her sensibilities and interests were all very Jamaican. This was followed by the era when Earl Moxam and Patrick Harley joined the newscast. There were also professionals like Terry Smith, about whom Mr. Allen shared an interesting anecdote: “I remember writing a story and rewriting it twice as a young journalist and then presenting it to Mr. Smith. When he took pencil to paper, there was virtually nothing that was correct in the story, and I felt totally disheartened. But that was the learning experience. That is how you achieve excellence.” Also notable was general manager Hugh Croskill, who, although not an official part of the news team, took a special interest in news and the development of news programmes. As a journalist by training, Croskill would present special items from time to time. He was, of course, a globally regarded cricket commentator, having been in sports while he was at JBC. Among the best of the best were news presenters like Erica Allen, Megan Thomas, Tony Scott, and Dorraine Samuels. Mr. Allen reminisced: “People might not know that when you see them reading the news so professionally, they might just have been informed of a major personal tragedy in their lives, but they were able to put that behind them and hold in the tears until the newscast was over. This indicates the height of their professionalism, and that is a reflection of the best of RJR.” RJR is an organisation where journalists are trained to report the news accurately, but it is also an organisation that believes in doing things because it is the right thing to do. In fact, the news team fully represents Radio Jamaica’s current catch phrase: “Active for the Good of our Nation” . David Ebanks Jennifer Grant