Oliver Clarke of Jamaica, who died on Saturday, was one of the leading figures of the Caribbean media scene. As Managing Director and Chairman of The Gleaner, he was committed to protecting the free press from the attempts by governments to circumscribe it; freedom of the press, he believed, was one of the pillars of democracy. As such, he used the platform of The Gleaner to work to safeguard media freedom not just at home, but also in the wider Caribbean. He was assisted in this regard by his membership of the Commonwealth Press Union and the Inter-American Press Association, both of which he served as President at one time or another.
Clarke, however, was not just a media titan, he was also a businessman of some stature, and started out his career working in the family owned building society. In 1976 he moved to The Gleaner which was in dire financial straits, and is credited with placing the company on a sound economic footing, thereby enabling it to maintain its independence. At a much later stage in 2015 he was to negotiate the merger of the newspaper and Radio Jamaica Communications Group in the context of difficult local economic conditions. The Gleaner quoted him as saying at the time: “You cannot provide independent news unless you are viable…”
CEO Gary Allen, reflecting on his approach recalled, “He always said ‘you have to be a business first; you have to make sure you can pay your way if you’re going to be independent media’ and he tried to ensure that that was the case as chairman…”
Along with other members of the Caribbean Publishers and Broadcasting Association, he was concerned about the loss of press freedom in Guyana under the Forbes Burnham administration. It might be noted he had acquired first-hand experience in Jamaica of ‘democratic socialism’ and what it implied for media freedom after the Michael Manley administration acceded to office in 1972. In moves that will be very familiar to older Guyanese, Manley nationalised what were described both here and in Jamaica as the commanding heights of the economy.
In a tribute published in The Gleaner, it was said that Clarke, along with other leaders of corporate Jamaica, regarded the government’s economic policy as a threat to private enterprise, and so he took the lead in founding the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica in 1976. Inevitably, the paper’s defence of the private sector and its criticism of the government brought it into conflict with Manley, although the prime minister never went the length of Burnham in his attempts to neutralise the press.
However, the tenor of the relationship was reflected in the actions of Manley when he led a march to The Gleaner in 1979, and delivered a speech denouncing the targeting of his government. What it was doing, he said, was unfair journalism. In a famous incident the march ended with Manley threatening, “Next time! Next time!” The Gleaner quoted Clarke as interpreting this as “bringing pressure on The Gleaner to influence editorial policy or, indeed, to close the company.” His response was to start a campaign to protect the free press.
When David de Caires embarked on his venture to open up the Guyanese media environment with the launch of the independent Stabroek News, he went to meet the Board of the Caribbean Publishers and Broadcasting Association. The encounter took place in the boardroom of The Gleaner on June 28, 1986, and while Clarke and all those present were fully supportive, with the exception of Ken Gordon of the Trinidad Express, they were a little sceptical at the same time. They simply had reservations that press freedom would be restored in Guyana. As it turned out, their fears were without foundation, and in order to make a public gesture of support, de Caires invited the Caribbean media houses to take out nominal shares in Stabroek News; The Gleaner was one of those which elected to do so.
Clarke and de Caires shared a certain commonality of outlook, both of them being regionalists and both being committed to private enterprise and press freedom, among other things. Clarke had no difficulty, therefore, in understanding what was involved when the Bharrat Jagdeo administration withheld government advertising from Stabroek News, starting in 2006, in an attempt to clear the media landscape prior to the launch of the Guyana Times. He gave unstinting support, using his international leverage to represent this newspaper’s case. This was after he had first sent Newton James of The Gleaner in company with representatives from Barbados and Trinidad to meet Jagdeo at a Caricom Heads meeting in St Vincent to offer to help with the setting up of a fair system for the distribution of government ads.
Clarke was also an advocate for removing the law of criminal libel from the Jamaica statute books, because it impedes the ability of the media to report freely. This was finally accomplished in 2013 following nearly seven years of talks between the Jamaica government, the media and civil society. This country has shown no inclination to follow that enlightened path, although the last administration had indicated it was prepared in principle to entertain the move.
In a tribute in The Gleaner, it was said that “Oliver Clarke has bequeathed to the people of Jamaica a dynamic institutional framework for the dissemination of information and public discussion by a free press. His passing has left a void that is not likely to be filled.”
