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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com New Providence
Rt Hon Hubert A Ingraham to receive Press Club Trailblazer Award For Private Broadcasting The award will be presented during the Fifth Annual Bahamas Press Club Media Awards in a Black Tie affair at the British Colonial Hilton on Saturday, February 29, 2020. The Black Tie event will be under the Patronage of Their Excellencies, The Most Hon Cornelius A. Smith, ON, Governor-General of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and Mrs. Clara Smith. “The Bahamas Press Club Trailblazer Award or previously called The Pioneer Award is to recognize those individuals who literally go where no Bahamian has gone before. It is awarded to a courageous and tenacious person in any industry that carves a path for others to follow where none existed before,” says Press Club President Anthony Capron. The first awards were dedicated to the pioneers or trailblazers of Bahamian journalism, when seven people were named. And, in subsequent years, the Press Club has sought to identify such a person. The Right Honourable Hubert Alexander Ingraham is the person responsible for opening of the airwaves allowing for private broadcasting throughout the Commonwealth of The Bahamas; having broken the monopoly on broadcasting when his administration licensed private radio stations, and again in 1994 with Cable Television. Hubert Alexander Ingraham was born on August 4, 1947 in Pine Ridge, Grand Bahama. He served three terms as Prime Minister 1992–2002 and then 2007–2012. After his early formative education, Ingraham became a member of The Bahamas Bar in 1972 and entered into a private law practice. He served on various public agencies and during the 1970s became a member of the top decision-making circles of the ruling Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) He was elected to the House of Assembly as a PLP member in 1977 and was reelected in 1982, and he served in the cabinet as the minister of housing, national insurance, and social services from 1982 to 1984. After making charges that the Pindling government had become corrupt, Ingraham was dismissed from the cabinet in 1984, but he won reelection to the House of Assembly in 1987 as an independent. He joined the Free National Movement (FNM) in 1990 and was the leader of the FNM, the Official Opposition from 1990 to 1992. When the FNM won the 1992 General Election, Ingraham became Prime Minister. In the 1997 General Election, the FNM won a decisive majority, and Ingraham began a second five-year term as Prime Minister. In the 2002 general election the FNM was defeated by the PLP. Although the loss was decisive, with the FNM losing 28 of its 35 parliamentary seats, by the time of the 2007 general election the party’s fortunes had improved. The FNM, under Ingraham’s leadership, won the May 2007 General Election by a comfortable margin, and he took office as Prime Minister once again. In the May 2012 General Election the PLP defeated the FNM, and was returned to power. Although Ingraham won reelection to his seat in the House of Assembly, he subsequently announced his retirement from politics.
Journalist and Diplomat Ed Bethel to receive The Etienne Dupuch Lifetime Achievement Award at Press Club Media Awards It is said that journalists write the first draft of history and Ed Bethel, the retired broadcast-journalist and diplomat has written quite a few drafts of Bahamian history, as he has been an eyewitness to the most recent history of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. In this vein, The Bahamas Press Club is pleased to announce that Ed Bethel will receive The Etienne Dupuch Lifetime Achievement Award at its Fifth Annual Media Awards ceremony on Saturday February 29, 2020. The Black Tie event will be held at the British Colonial Hilton under the Patronage of Their Excellencies, The Most Hon Cornelius A. Smith, ON, Governor-General of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and Mrs. Clara Smith. The Lifetime Achievement Award is in honour of the Late Sir Etienne Dupuch, regarded as the crusading journalist who served as editor of The Tribune for more than 50 years. “In considering names for our industry awards we would be remiss not to acknowledge the great Sir Etienne Dupuch, celebrated for waging daily battles for social justice and freedom of the press as editor of The Tribune over 50 years. Therefore, The Sir Etienne Dupuch Lifetime Achievement Award is our top industry honour and named respectfully and in remembrance of a great Bahamian legend,” says Press Club President Anthony Capron. Ed Bethel began his journalistic career in 1959 at the Nassau Tribune under the tutelage of Sir Etienne Dupuch and Sir Arthur Foulkes. He joined ZNS as a sports reporter in 1963. Bethel has had a busy media career in which he was active until his retirement in 2012. Bethel covered many of the major events in The Bahamas including the 1962 Nassau conference which included the United States President John F. Kennedy, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker; the 1962 General Election in which women voted for the first time; the 1965 disastrous fire and sinking of the SS Yarmouth Castle; the 1965 “Black Tuesday” demonstration by the Progressive Liberal Party, when then Opposition leader Lynden Pindling threw the mace out of the window of the House of Assembly, and the 1967 General Election when the Progressive Liberal Party became the new Government of The Bahamas, defeating the United Bahamian Party. As coordinator of ZNS coverage of the 1973 Bahamas Independence, Bethel along with Charles Carter and Carl Bethel were the broadcasters at Clifford Park on the historic night of July 9, 1973, who told the world that a new nation named The Commonwealth of the Bahamas was born. In 1975 Bethel provided blow by blow coverage of the Elisha Obed vs Miguel de Oliveira championship bout from Paris, France. Bethel along with Charles Carter and Calsey Johnson inaugurated local television, ZNS, Channel 13 in July 1977. He was coordinator of ZNS coverage of the 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) hosted by The Bahamas in Nassau. Bethel also served as Manager of ZNS Northern Service and Deputy General Manager of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas. He served as Sports Editor at The Counsellors, Executive Director of Bahamas Information Services, News Editor at Love 97 FM and The Bahama Journal, and News Anchor of the Evening News at Star 106.5 FM As a Diplomat, Bethel has served as Consul General to New York, Bahamas High Commissioner to the Court of St. James’s, London, and Ambassador to the European Union. Bethel is married to the former broadcaster Dawne Adderley. He is the father of four adult children and an adult stepson.
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