Oswald Brown Writes – Pakeisha Parker should be allowed to return to ZNS! Nassau Division needs real talent!

REMARKABLE COVERAGE OF THE STORM:

I’ve been in the news business as a print journalist for more than 50 years and I’ve been a huge fan of Ricardo Lightbourne’s for a very long time. I’ve said on more than one occasion that he is unquestionably the best sportscaster in The Bahamas and, indeed, the entire Caribbean.

But after listening to him “anchor” news coverage of Hurricane Sandy’s assault on Grand Bahama starting on Thursday, I must amend my evaluation of his newscasting ability: He is more than just the best sportscaster in this region, but a strong case could be made for “crowning” him as the best newscaster in the country and the region.

I hope that Andrew Burrows, the new executive news director at the Broadcasting Corporation based in New Providence, found the time to tune into the coverage provided by the team of young and seasoned professionals at ZNS Northern Service on 810 AM radio and television, when it was still available. Reporter Joan Davis Rolle’s report on the effects of the storm on Friday was a riveting tour de force of journalistic excellence and Shasheena Rolle in Abaco as well as Sebrina Brown, Shakara Russell-Trott, Meagan Shepherd and Cindy Williams in the various areas of Grand Bahama all did highly commendable jobs. The entire hurricane coverage, I’m told, was produced by Natalee Martinborough, who is in her own right a renowned broadcast journalist.

With Ricardo serving as “anchor,” residents of Grand Bahama were kept up-to-date on the progress of the storm, and even after their generator broke down on two occasions, when Ricardo came back on air he didn’t miss a beat filling in the listening audience on everything that had transpired during the breaks in transmission.

Of course, I can’t forget Nicki D, with whom I rode out the storm all Friday night until 4 a.m. Saturday morning as he played a collection of my favourite gospel songs. Truly, truly, truly, the “team” at ZNS Northern Service did a first-rate job providing coverage for residents of Grand Bahama during the passage of SANDY THE TERRIBLE.

On a somewhat related matter, surely as she sits at home now watching Megan Shepherd anchor the nightly news on ZNS-News 13 here in Freeport, Pakeisha Parker Edgecombe must be regretting allowing former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham to convince her to abandon her broadcast journalism career to run as a candidate in the last election. Pakeisha is unquestionably a very accomplished young journalist, and I think that an avenue should be found for her to resume her journalistic career at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas Northern Service.

Since we have a Prime Minister in Perry Christie who believes in giving people a second chance, I think Pakeisha, who by now must realize what a terrible mistake she made, deserves a second chance to resume her journalistic career here in Grand Bahama.