Members of the federal government and the opposition have expressed profound shock and sorrow on the passing of Barbara Gayle, the veteran crime and court docket reporter from the Gleaner Firm Restricted.
Gayle was found dead at her home in Caymanas Country Club Estate, St Catherine, on Tuesday. Police have dominated her dying a murder and are pursuing sturdy leads within the case.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in extending his deepest condolences to Gayle’s rapid household, her associates, and her colleagues at The Gleaner, described her as a stalwart of Jamaican journalism.
“Even in retirement, her ardour for the occupation continued, along with her common contributions to The Gleaner. Her dedication and contributions to journalism have undoubtedly left an indelible mark on Jamaica’s media panorama”, Holness mentioned.
Gayle devoted over 4 a long time of her life to journalism and have become one of many nation’s most revered and achieved court docket reporters, he famous.
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, reflecting on Gayle’s immense contribution to journalism, described her passing as a private loss. “I’m deeply upset and saddened to study of Barbara’s dying. I’ve identified her for over 40 years,” Chuck shared. “She reported on most of the trial instances I dealt with from the mid-Eighties into the Nineteen Nineties. In latest a long time, she introduced quite a few issues, issues, and weaknesses within the court docket system to my consideration and urged their correction.”
Chuck lauded Gayle’s legacy, emphasising her dedication to her craft. “Barbara was famend for her impactful court docket reporting and her dedication to Jamaican media. She leaves behind a legacy of excellence and integrity in journalism and court docket reporting.”
The Folks’s Nationwide Celebration (PNP) additionally paid tribute to Gayle, with Nekeisha Burchell, the social gathering’s spokesperson for Info and Public Communication, highlighting her indelible mark on the sphere of journalism.
“Barbara Gayle embodied braveness, excellence, and repair in her work. Her tireless reporting gave voice to justice and transparency in our courts,” Burchell said. “Her decades-long profession as The Gleaner’s main court docket reporter set an unmatched commonplace for professionalism, integrity, and braveness. Her work illuminated among the most important authorized issues in our historical past, incomes her the respect of the courts, authorized minds, and the general public she served so diligently.”
The PNP additionally addressed the broader implications of Gayle’s dying, noting the dangers confronted by journalists amid the rising insecurity within the nation.
“This newest assault on a journalist is symptomatic of the bigger state of insecurity by which we dwell. Journalists carry out an important operate in our democracy, and violence towards them strikes on the coronary heart of freedom of the press and public belief,” the assertion mentioned.
The PNP referred to as on authorities to behave decisively. “We strongly condemn this act and urge the related authorities to behave swiftly and totally in bringing these accountable to justice. A minimum of a speedy decision will present some measure of consolation to her household, her colleagues, and the broader media neighborhood.”
Gayle lined instances spanning the Privy Council in the UK, the Jamaican Supreme Court docket, the Court docket of Attraction, parish courts, and circuit courts. She was a multi-award-winning journalist, copping the Press Affiliation of Jamaica’s (PAJ) 1997 Neighborhood Service Award, Journalist of the Yr and regional awards from the Caribbean Affiliation of Media Staff. She was additionally just lately recognised by the PAJ for her longstanding contributions to journalism.
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