The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

EILEEN Carron, the Publisher/Editor of The Tribune, has been presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bahamas Press Club in recognition of her outstanding contribution to nation building and significant work in journalism and publishing.

Mrs Carron, 85, who has been in her post since 1972 as Publisher, was the most significant of seven people recognised at the awards dinner at the British Colonial Hilton on Saturday.

Wendall Jones, of Jones Communication Network (Love 97, the Bahama Journal and JCN television); Anthony Ferguson, Guardian Talk Radio (96.9FM); Henry Saunders (More 94 FM); Silbert Mills (Radio Abaco); and the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, ZNS Radio and Television, were all given Pioneer Awards for their work in the advancement of journalism.

Kenneth N Francis, was also honoured posthumously, for his rise from being a press operator at The Nassau Guardian to becoming the publisher and general manager of one of the oldest newspapers in the region, established in 1844.

Press Club president Anthony Newbold congratulated those being honoured for the “trails they blazed and the joy and recognition they brought to the noble profession”.

He also urged journalists, media professionals, broadcasters and photographers “not to be mediocre or pedestrian” but to be “judicious, fair, balanced, accurate and on time”.

“As we recognise some of those who paved the way, we also recognise the sacrifices they made and the examples they set. And I say some because, and this is especially for those who have been giving me instructions and directions since we announced these awards, we cannot recognise everyone at once,” Mr Newbold said.

Referring to the media scrutiny of politicians, he said: “Remember also that both of our vocations, professions, require, no, demand, that we all be above reproach. We must be careful and vigilant lest we are beguiled by the serpent called social media and the internet. Someone not long ago called it a sewer. I will not go that far tonight but let me say it is the perfect venue for a Tar-Baby experience.

“So if we are not careful, some of the sewage that floats around in there will stick to us ... Keep the language out of the gutter and practice a high level standard of English. The public mimics you. We help to shape public opinion. We determine what goes on the front page, what is the top story and what makes the line-up at all.”

Former Governor General, Sir Arthur Foulkes, in a video address said Mrs Carron and her father Sir Etienne Dupuch, who had taken him on as a reporter in the 1950s at The Tribune, “represented the finest in our profession” and praised them for their significant contribution to journalism and publishing.

Mr Newbold presented Mrs Carron with the Liftetime Achievement Award, which was given ‘For excellence, dedication and commitment to the highest standards of journalism’.

Dr John Black, a long-standing family friend from the UK, told the 120-strong audience about the Carrons being under significant political pressure for many years. He said what he learned was important to Mrs Carron was education, personal integrity and leadership, her recognition of staff and people and her fight for social justice. He described her as having “quiet, steely determination” and as “an inspiration for future generations of journalists”.

Margaret Guillaume, the former Bahamas Press Club president, said she had finally got the chance to thank Mrs Carron for taking her on as a news photographer in 1976, which allowed her to fulfil her dream. She presented Mrs Carron with a digital photo of a Cerasee plant.

Mrs Carron obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at St Michael’s College, University of Toronto, Canada, before going on to receive her Masters in Journalism in New York and then to study Law in London. She honoured the agreement with her father that she would study law - as he had wished - if he would send her to journalism school.

Mrs Carron is the first Bahamian woman to graduate from Columbia School of Journalism, New York (MS degree) where she specialised in the foreign correspondent’s course and worked under an Associated Press editor at the United Nations.

She is the longest current serving Editor/Publisher of a newspaper in the world and closing in on her father’s world record as the longest serving editor - 54 years at The Tribune.

Mrs Carron joined The Tribune as Editor in 1962, the same year that she became the second woman to be called to The Bahamas Bar. She was presented by her uncle, the late Eugene Dupuch, QC, after whom the law school in Nassau is named.

In 1972, she took over the helm of The Tribune, succeeding her father and becoming the Bahamas’ second woman publisher. Mrs Carron is the only Bahamian to have her editorials read into the Record from the floor of the US Senate - by Florida Senator, Bob Graham (D). In 1993, she became the first CEO of a private radio station with the launch of The People’s Radio Station, 100JAMZ.

See Insight for Anthony Newbold’s address to the Bahamas Press Club awards dinner