Minister Falconer Hails Clare Forrester As A ‘Giant Of Caribbean Journalism’
By: , September 16, 2014The Key Point:
The Facts
- Miss Forrester died in Florida on Monday evening after ailing for some time.
- The Information Minster said Miss Forrester was also a committed regionalist, whose skills were made available to the wider Caribbean region.
The Full Story
Minister of Information, Senator, the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, on Tuesday, September 16, hailed Jamaican journalist and communications practitioner Clare Forrester as a “giant of Caribbean journalism and a lost treasure”. Miss Forrester died in Florida on Monday evening after ailing for some time.
Minister Falconer said Miss Forrester was “a sterling example of journalistic excellence, fairness and rigour. Her unflinching devotion to the highest standards of the noble profession was evidenced by her many years of administering the national journalism awards, the fact that she was an adjudicator of the annual Jamaica Broilers Fairplay Awards, as well as the fact that her very last journalistic endeavor was a media review column which assessed the work of her colleagues”.
The Information Minster said Miss Forrester was also a committed regionalist, whose skills were made available to the wider Caribbean region, having worked for 20 years as Media and Communications Advisor to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO.) In 2006, PAHO conferred on her its exceptional leadership award, noting that Ms. Forrester’s “effective journalistic and public relations skills have increased the skills of selective regional journalists to report on health and development matters”.
Minister Falconer noted that Miss Forrester was a founding member and general secretary of the Association of the Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) which in 2002 gave her its distinguished service award. Locally, Miss Forrester served for a number of years as Secretary of the Press Association of Jamaica and received its distinguished service award in 2000 and was inducted in the association’s Hall of Fame in 2012.
“Clare distinguished herself in all her endeavors: As a journalist serving the Jamaica Information Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Department as well as a journalist covering the field of sports —a task which she undertook with the utmost passion and precision. She has made an indelible contribution to journalism and has bequeathed an enviable track record of distinction, dignity and dedication.
“Her ready, endearing smile and her dogged public-spiritedness will be missed, as much as it will also always be cherished. I offer my condolences to her family, friends and many colleagues who mourn at this time”.