The Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) on Friday offered a tribute in memory of CBU Hall of Famer and regional broadcasting stalwart, J.A. Lester Spaulding, on learning the sad news that he had died in his home country Jamaica, after being hospitalised with a serious illness.
Colleague and CEO of the RJRGLEANER Group, Gary Allen, remembered Spaulding’s pivotal role in the piloting of the CBU, as a former Chairman, and in the creation of the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
He was president of the CBU from 1987 to 1991.
During his term as President he formed a relationship with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung which led to the establishment of a television production and news exchange facility including the CBU’s acquisition of its own domestic satellite uplink.
He also contributed to the development of the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) as a director until 2011, and nurtured the formation of the Caribbean Media Corporation beings its inaugural Chairman in 2000
“Lester” Spalding was born in Jamaica on April 1, 1941.
His entire career in broadcasting was associated with the Jamaica Broadcasting Company, then renamed Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion Limited and subsequently Radio Jamaica Limited which eventually became the parent company of the RJRGLEANER Communication Group.
Starting in accounts, he became Managing Director in 1978, a position from which he retired in 2008. He became Chairman of the Radio Jamaica Group in 1994, before taking the helm of the merged media entity formed with the Gleaner Group in 2016.
Lester Spalding was inducted into the CBU Hall of Fame in 2011.
The Caribbean Broadcasting Union extends sincere condolences to Spaulding’s family and loved ones on his passing. (CMC)
