BEFORE Gladstone Wilson began working as an announcer at the State-run
Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) in the summer of 1968, he was aware of its influence on Jamaica’s politics.

“It was a training ground for young journalists, but the problem with the politics — and it’s typical of Third World countries — you find that the media in general was hostage to political regimes. In the case of the JBC, we were seen as a prize because if you won the election, you won the JBC,” he said in a 2019 interview with the Jamaica Observer.

Founded in 1959, JBC Radio and Television employed several firebrand journalists in 1974 including John Maxwell who had strong ties to the People’s National Party (PNP) which had come to power two years earlier, led by Michael Manley.

His colleagues included popular disc jockeys like Winston “The Whip” Williams and Errol “ET” Thompson, who played the militant reggae hits of the day.

In contrast, their rivals at Radio Jamaica (RJR) were staunchly conservative. Their big names were Don “El Numero Uno” Topping, Alan Magnus, Marie Garth and Radcliffe Butler.

There were also two daily newspapers in Jamaica 50 years ago. Daily Gleaner, a broadsheet founded in 1834, and the Daily News tabloid which started in May 1973.

Daily News favoured the PNP’s socialist policies and had a number of former
Gleaner journalists on its books, including reporters Terry Smith, Carl Wint and Canute James, chief sub-editor Glen McFarlane, and photographer Winston Sill.

Among the columnists were Mervyn Morris, Fred Wilmot, Ronnie Thwaites, Peter Abrahams and Barbara Gloudon, a former Gleaner stalwart. Tony Becca was sports editor.

Editor of Daily News was Barbadian JC Proute, who was determined to give its formidable rival a run for its money.

“He was a strong, professional man who stood not only for principles but for sound, quality journalism,” James told this writer in a 2006 interview. “There was a sense of pride as people worked hard, they went the extra mile.”

Like JBC, many of the staff at Daily News held radical views but the publication was initially funded by National Continental Corporation (NCC), owned by the Hendrickson family, and brewery giants Desnoes and Geddes.

Wyvolyn Gager joined Daily Gleaner’s staff in 1975, when hard-nosed Theodore Sealy was editor. He was complemented by a talented newsroom generally considered to be anti-PNP.

Gager recalled that the mood at Daily Gleaner reflected Jamaica’s fractious political climate.

“There was an urgency to shake off the vestiges of colonial ideas, dress, and general style and embrace indigenous Jamaica. Every sector of society was affected. In the newsroom there was a blooming of new ideas as reporters and editors became engaged in deep discussions on the floor and at the proverbial water cooler,” she said. “There were strongly held political views as persons examined the [PNP] doctrine of democratic socialism. Hard-hitting columnists of the Gleaner [John Hearne, Wilmot Perkins, and David DaCosta] were labelled reactionary and partisan, earning the wrath of politicians and their supporters.”

In terms of gender, Gager pointed to a yawning disparity.

“Men dominated the newsroom, and I recall some intimidating figures like Ken Allen, Calvin Bowen and Ivorall Davis. Female journalists were usually assigned puff stories, until they demanded more,” she disclosed.

James credits Proute with making Daily News competitive in its early years. He came up with the slogan, ‘Hit them where they Ain’t’, and called on his team to live up to that mantra.

“We did stories that were not the traditional fare of The Gleaner — we developed a more disciplined approach to the coverage of key areas. Our industrial coverage was better and the political reporting from Carl Wint was superior,” said James.

Gladstone Wilson remembers management at JBC being wary of being politically aligned. He said a turning point came in late 1973 when Dwight Whylie was appointed general manager, and one of his priorities was to transform the organisation’s image.

“We revamped the schedule at Radio One — we agreed that it was not doing well so we sat down and pulled up the entire schedule. That’s how we came up with TCB [Taking Care of Business] with Elaine Wint and Public Eye [current affairs talk show] with John Maxwell. This kind of programming was geared toward the general public, including people outside of the Corporate Area,” Wilson stated.

The divisive nature of Jamaican politics during the 1970s came to a head in September 1979 when Manley led supporters on a march to Daily Gleaner, protesting what he claimed was unfair coverage of his Administration.

In October 1980, when the right-leaning Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won the general election in a landslide, the media landscape went through considerable change. The
JBC newsroom — which included future Government minister Colin Campbell, and academics Hopeton Dunn and Brian Meeks — was sacked.

Due to dwindling resources, Daily News folded in April 1983. James became a lecturer at Caribbean Institute of Media Communication, and was the Caribbean correspondent for the Financial Times of London for over 20 years.

JBC went off the air in 1997, when it was purchased by Radio Jamaica Limited. Gladstone Wilson went on to become chairman of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica.

Daily Gleaner is now the Gleaner Company, a member of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group. Gager became the newspaper’s first female editor-in-chief in 1994, a position she held for six years.