The late news manager and journalist Beverley Elaine Sinclair was last Thursday remembered as a “passionate regionalist” who used media to showcase the best of the Caribbean.

At a thanksgiving service, held at St Andrew Church of Christ, on Red Hills Road, in St Andrew, speaker after speaker shared tales of how the media icon of 35 years dedicated herself to the “pursuit of truth and storytelling” from her time at the Montego Bay, St James-based Vacationer, to the Jamaica Record, the Western Mirrow, and as editorial and photography manager at Jamaica Information Service (JIS).

Sinclair also made her mark as news and programming manager at Flow Grenada, and chief operating manager at Media Marketing and Communications, as well as consultant at Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, and through them all she “showcased her commitment to excellence and accuracy in reporting”, her eulogy read.

Margaret Francis, a long-time friend of Sinclair, told the packed church, and the more than 300 online viewers, that the late journalist was an “outspoken advocate” for the enlightenment and empowerment of the region, and “this manifested itself in the weekly discussion programme Mek We Chat, bringing together some of the best minds in the Caribbean for two hours each week”.

Francis noted that Sinclair used her craft for the unity and destiny of Caribbean people. “She was also deeply troubled by our continued use of colonial governance and political constructs, and the sluggish ‘talk a lot and do little’ approach of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). She always sought the facts in the field of journalism,” added Francis.

She said Sinclair, who died on July 22, after a brief illness, was a true friend of Haiti, and exhibited pressure for that country to be integrated in Caricom.

“Wherever she went, she always asked the question, ‘And our Haitian brothers and sisters?’ as she pressed her fight for the first black republic,” Francis recounted.

Garfield Angus, a reporter at the JIS, said he met Sinclair in the middle of 2021, when she became his boss, and very quickly the working relationship matured into what a team environment should be with motivation and productive work peaking to very high levels.

“I never got tired of hearing from my late former boss, Ms Sinclair. Anger, tears, and sadness greeted her leaving the JIS, and a broken heart is still pondering the end of your stay on Earth. Though her stint with us was very short, ‘Miss Bev’ became an essential part of our career, and her departure left hollowness in our hearts that words cannot express,” Angus said.

For Sinclair’s only child, Channtal Golding-Wiles, her mother was her best friend, mentor, guiding star, who lived a life of love for all.

“She loved me, she loved God, and she loved people who were of pure hears and minds,” said Golding-Wiles.

She added that, although her mother was a strict disciplinarian, “I have no memory of mommy ever shouting at me.”

During her more than three decades in media, Sinclair was integral in the 2013 launch of the regional television programme Time to Face the Facts, which was given recognition by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She was also a judge for the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) media awards for excellence.