THE local media fraternity has lost one of its calmest and most easy-going veterans, Balford George Henry, who died on Monday after a brief illness.

He was 74.

Henry’s quiet and composed demeanour belied his sharp wit, keen sense of discernment, hard work, and professional integrity that have been the hallmark of his more than four decades as a top print reporter.

Henry served both national newspapers, The Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer, in several capacities. He also served as consulting editor at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) and worked at
New York Daily News, WLIB Radio in New York as a correspondent.

Henry was also editor of Reggae Times in the 1990s and reporter for the Overseas Gleaner (North America Edition) in New York during the 90s.

In a 2011 interview with JIS the unflappable Henry said he simply loves to write, and responded to the call to the fourth Estate during the summer of 1971, while a sixth former at Wolmer’s Boys’ School in Kingston.

“At that time, The Gleaner advertised for trainee journalists. I was among scores of young people from across Jamaica who sat the initiative tests, coincidently held at Wolmer’s Boys’ School auditorium. Fortunately, I was among the handful of successful candidates,” he recalled.

At that time, The Gleaner was the only institutionalised daily newspaper in the country and, in the absence of a school of journalism in Jamaica and indeed, the wider region, the North Street facility prided itself as the nursery and training ground for print reporters.

“I was exposed to the veterans of the craft, people like Ken Allen, Calvin Bowen, LK Southerland, and Editor-in-Chief Theodore Sealy. Barbara Gloudon, in particular, discovered very early in my career that I enjoyed writing features, and encouraged and nurtured my efforts,” said Henry in the JIS interview.

He recalled that the training period was tough, with the late Fitzroy Nation “being the only other member of my group to survive that ordeal”.

Henry further honed his skills as a Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) Fellow, London, 1977; earned a journalism diploma as a Thomson Foundation scholar in Cardiff, Wales, 1977; and was one of 12 journalists from around the world chosen by the World Press Institute (WPI) for a fellowship at Macalester College, St Paul, Minnesota, in 1983.

Early in his career Henry reported on sittings of the then Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), as well as major social and cultural activities and events.

Later, as a veteran labour relations reporter, he covered industrial relations issues including major strikes and disputes during the volatile 1970s.

The recipient of a number of professional awards, Henry had also been the winner of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) Honorary Award for a series on the social and economic problems facing Jamaican youth in Britain’s inner cities, based on his own experience while living in that country in 1977.

He had also won the PAJ Best Story award for his coverage of the funeral of the late reggae icon Bob Marley in 1981; as well as the PAJ’s first Cultural Story Award for the feature entitled: ‘Fall of a Superstar’, on the rise and fall of Jamaican reggae singer Junior Byles.

In 2011 Henry was conferred with the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) for distinguished service to journalism.

Reacting to his passing, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness expressed sadness and said he remembers Henry as a committed journalist who understood the responsibility that comes with telling Jamaica’s story.

“His work reflected a deep knowledge of our politics, our people and the issues affecting our country,” Holness said in a post on Instagram.

“His passing is a loss to Jamaica’s media fraternity and to the many people who knew and worked with him over the years. I extend my heartfelt condolence to his family, friends, colleagues and the wider journalism community,” the prime minister said.

Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange also expressed sadness at Henry’s passing, describing him as “a first-rate journalist” who was committed to his craft.

Grange said Henry was an “outstanding writer and questioner whose easy-going demeanour belied the penetrating nature of his questions”.

“I had great respect for Balford. He was always professional in his interactions and in his journalistic pursuits. He was sharp, he was keen, he could be tough, but he was always fair,” Grange said, and offered condolence to his family and colleagues.

Journalist Wilton Dyer, who was already at The Gleaner when a very young Henry arrived in 1971, remembers “a very quiet, contemplative man” who brought a “very dilligent, single-minded approach” to journalism.

“He was very efficient and driven,” Dyer said, recalling that Henry quickly developed a “mastery of labour relations and parliamentary reporting”.

Dyer also recalled that Henry was steeped in Jamaican music and also produced a record of his own called Bits of Paper.

By the mid-1970s Henry was among the leading Jamaican entertainment writers, said Dyer.

Fellow veteran journalist Garfield Myers remembered Henry as a workaholic.

“He was one of those who, when I went to The Gleaner in July 1973, had been there for a couple of years — very young man, a couple of years older than me — and he was one of those who showed me the way,” said Myers, a former Observer sports editor who still writes for the newspaper from St Elizabeth.

He said that Henry became very adept at labour relations and trade union coverage, which was a very important beat back in those days.

“Over time he graduated to Parliament and became one of the better parliamentary reporters, and mastered that beat. He was a very good reporter. Some journalists graduate to become editors but Balford was a reporter par excellence. Trying to make him into something else wouldn’t work,” Myers said.

Observer Executive Editor, Publications Vernon Davidson also commented on Henry’s mastery of parliamentary reporting, noting that he often returned from a long day of covering the legislature with stories missed by some of his colleagues.

“We could always depend on Balford to deliver, regardless of how long the sittings were, as he had an exceptional eye for detail and the type of patience required to cover Parliament,” said Davidson who also worked with Henry at The Gleaner in the early 1980s.

“Bally also provided excellent coverage of politics and would be our point reporter during the annual budget debates,” said Davidson who recalled that Henry joined the Observer in November 2003, left for JIS in 2009, and returned to the newspaper in 2012.

“He was a quiet fountain of knowledge and we are poorer for his passing. We extend our deepest condolence to his family, friends and colleagues,” Davidson said.

Henry is survived by his widow Claudia Stockhausen-Henry and was the father of two sons and two daughters.