Wilmot Perkins, crusader for justice and the poor

Ken Chaplin

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

JOURNALIST and broadcaster Wilmot Perkins was a fearless crusader for justice and the poor of Jamaica. In his monumental career Perkins had to fight off many challenges of survival to emerge as Jamaica's leading talk show host.

Indeed, he was more than a talk show host discussing national issues and the problems of his countrymen. I know what he liked most as a talk show host were calls from poor people on their personal problems, especially legal issues. After discussions, he would direct them where to go for further help. He was a sort of ombudsman. His radio programmes, particularly his last on Power 106 FM, Perkins on Line, attracted national listenership, especially by farmers with their transistor radios in the field.

If the late Theodore Sealy, editor-in-chief of The Gleaner publications, was Jamaica's greatest newspaperman, Perkins was the greatest broadcast journalist. I rubbed shoulders with him as a young reporter and admired him for his courage and commitment to the canons of journalism. He went in-depth into issues. His thoughts were radical rather than conservative and he was not afraid to express his view, some of the times with balance.

He was a stickler to facts and because of that it was difficult to beat him in an argument or debate. "Look here, these are the facts..., " he would say. Perkins was not one to use monosyllables. He put his case in simple language so that most people would understand.

Perkins' first challenge as a journalist came when he was a young reporter at the Daily Gleaner. It was not about his work as a journalist, but about seeking better pay and working conditions for reporters. He was a founding officer of the Jamaica Union of Journalists (JUJ), of which I was a member. The then managing director of The Gleaner, SG Fletcher, opposed the formation of the union to represent journalists. There was the Press Association of Jamaica, the professional organisation of journalists of which we were also members. But it was there to protect the professional interests of journalists and freedom of the press.

The economic position of reporters in those days was dire. Their pay was at rock bottom. For example, as a reporter of the Jamaica Times weekly newspaper, my pay was less than $30 per week by today's calculation, based on the value of the pound sterling, and of course it did not permit me to live as comfortably as I wanted.

Fletcher feared that the union would put pressure on The Gleaner's management to improve the pay and working conditions of journalists and further, that if it became a member of the trade union organisation, and went on strike over an issue, it would have powerful support. Perkins made a tremendous sacrifice by agitating for better pay for journalists, placing him in a tenuous position at The Gleaner. After he was "exiled" to head the Port Antonio office of The Gleaner, the JUJ collapsed.

Perkins was a fearless critic of the 1976 State of Emergency which lasted for one year. The PNP administration attempted to silence him by hauling him before the bar of the House of Representatives, along with another journalist, Vernon Witter. Perkins refused to be silenced.

All sorts of other attempts were made to muzzle Perkins. He was sued for libel and slander at least 28 times, but each time the case fizzled out. It seemed as if nothing except death could stop him from fighting for justice and what he considered good government. He strove for excellence for more than 60 years and achieved it.

Perkins' knowledge of the country's political and economic history inspired his fiery and uncompromising commentary. His personality as a citizen was his facilitation of the dispossessed. He was kind and accommodating. But once he got behind the microphone he was devastating in defending the rights of citizens, blasting incompetent governance and corruption, often laughing derisively at what he considered nonsensical statements by political leaders on his programme or elsewhere. He had a laugh that was sometimes more effective than speech.

No prime minister in recent times escaped his criticism. He hit at Michael Manley, Edward Seaga, PJ Patterson, Portia Simpson Miller, Bruce Golding and Andrew Holness. Information Minister Sandrea Falconer, a former journalist, paid a fine tribute to Perkins on behalf of the government following his death last Friday.

As one of the country's finest journalists and the most outstanding broadcaster Jamaica has ever produced, Perkins deserves to join those of us in the Press Association of Jamaica's Hall of Fame.

Perkins has refused national honours from both governments and was not keen on the PAJ's National Journalism Awards.

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Wilmot Perkins, crusader for justice and the poor