DWIGHT Whylie, who died suddenly in Barbados on Sunday, has been remembered as a world-class broadcaster who stood for excellence and the observance of standards.

Whylie, 66, who became the first black man to be heard on BBC radio in the 1960s, had gone to Barbados to be the chief judge of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s (CBU) media awards last Saturday, was discovered ill in his hotel room.

Whylie who held many positions in the broadcasting fraternity began his career at the now defunct Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) radio and worked his way up to the position of general manager, was inducted into the Caribbean Broadcasting Hall of Fame in June 1976 and was appointed chairman of the Broadcasting Commission in February.

Executive director of the commission, Cordel Green, in a statement yesterday, said Whylie contributed significantly to the professional development of the media in the Caribbean.

“In all his various roles as media manager, broadcaster and regulator, he constantly emphasised the need for the public interest to be paramount in broadcasting and that professional standards should be expected of all who operate or serve in privileged positions of trust in media,” Green said.

Chairman of the Creative Production Training Centre, Dr Hopeton Dunn, remembered Whylie as “one of the Caribbean’s best and brightest sons in the broadcasting field. He is a world class broadcaster who was respected whereever he operated, particularly in Canada and the United Kingdom where he distinguished himself. He stood for excellence and observance of (broadcasting) standards. He particularly emphasised the importance of public service broadcasting as a segment of broadcasting that should never be neglected,” Dunn said.

Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) president Glen McFarlane said Jamaica has lost a student of broadcasting.

Veteran Journalist and publisher of Insight Magazine, Hector Bernard who worked as Whylie’s deputy general manager at the JBC, remembered him as a man with tremendous experience, whose skills were not utilised by the media. “He (Whylie) came back to Jamaica at a time when there was multiplicity of media but they did not make maximum use of his skills. They never offered him a job. I am puzzled by this because he was a competent broadcaster by any standards,” Bernard lamented.

Veteran journalist, John Maxwell, who worked with Whylie at the JBC, said he was studious, fun-loving and easy to work with. Maxwell said Whylie did not have time to do anything new at the JBC. He, however, saw his position at the Broadcasting Commission as a platform that enabled him to accomplish the things he wanted to do at the JBC. “He was an experienced broadcaster and (was) recognised as one of the best at JBC; he was an excellent man for the broadcasting commission,” Maxwell said.

Wycliffe Bennett, two-time general manager of the JBC saw Whylie as a forthright and fearless broadcaster who possessed a magnificent command of spoken and written English. “He was a great asset to the broadcasting industry, one of the finest broadcasters Jamaica has aver produced. He was a model to the younger generation. His contribution to broadcasting was monumental,” Bennett said.