Mr. Ed Carolita Bethel

Ed.
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Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that Ed Bethel, the journalist and lately News Director for Love 97 Radio news is to be the Consul General for The Bahamas in New York.
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Mr. Bethel and his wife Dawn are expected to be in New York on or before 1st January 2003.In welcoming Mr. Bethel, Mr. Christie said that he was sure that Mr. Bethel would do a good job and that he was well equipped to assist the Bahamian community abroad and to encourage investment to The Bahamas.Mr. Bethel, centre, is shown being congratulated by Prime Minister Christie at left and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell at right in this BIS photo by Peter Ramsay.
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Ed.

The interview was with Ed Bethel, President of the Press Club of The Bahamas during a visit to China earlier this year as a guest of the Chinese Government.Interesting interview for me as Opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs.But what was especially interesting is that she begins her days she says by accessing the Nassau Guardian's web site and the Bahama Journal's web site.

Ed Bethel of Love 97 News is one of its principals as well.The Lunch Bunch announced (see Nassau Guardian photo) on Tuesday 20 June that it was offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot Archdeacon Thompson.Archdeacon Thompson was the centre of this group and he is now the second one to have been shot down in cold blood.

The Bahamas Press Club, headed by veteran journalist Ed Bethel, honoured Cyril Stevenson at an affair at Government House on Friday 12 February.
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Mr. Bethel is thought to have taken offense at remarks made in this column about his stand on the Clifton Cay project on western New Providence.He is welcomed to use the column for a response.

LYFORD CAY LAUNCHES A PUBLICITY BLITZ

Last Tuesday, Ed Bethel, the Journalist, hosted the lunch.

Ed Bethel was the Director of News.
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Following upon a report of a political war of words between the Hon. A.D. Hanna and Henry Bostwick in the House of Assembly where Mr. Hanna threatened to throw a book at Henry Bostwick, the News Director at the time Ed Bethel got in some problem.
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All we heard at the time was that Ed Bethel had offended the then Deputy Prime Minister, ZNS was in trouble financially.
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I pointed out that I was the junior man on the scene, that Mr. Bethel was my superior and I could not direct him what to do.
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Mr. Bethel had been on the job for 20 years.The staff did not like it.The country seemed to revolt against it.And the press seemed universally opposed to it.

But I persevered ‘irregardless' as they say.It was clear to me that I had no hand in the decision to fire Ed Bethel and I wondered why people would not look to the person who actually made the decision.To no avail.
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I think that Ed Bethel and I have reached an understanding.

Another panel consisting Ed Bethel, news director of Love 97, Jerome Sawyer of Island FM, Darold Miller of ZNS, and two second year law students fired questions at the leaders, but the crowd was not allowed to do so.
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Mr Bethel asked Mr Turnquest if it was too late for the government to postpone the referendum, if that is what the people are asking.

Veteran journalist Ed Bethel appointed NY Consul General

By KHASHAN POITIER

Guardian Staff Reporter

Veteran broadcaster and journalist Ed Bethel has been appointed the Bahamas' Consul General to New York.He is expected to take up his post by Jan. 1, 2003.

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"In the person of Ed Bethel, we have someone who through his successes in journalism, knows every part of The Bahamas intimately, knows the people of The Bahamas intimately and is, therefore, best able to promote our country in the most intimate and knowledgeable of fashion.So, he really takes with him a wealth of experience, excellent counsel and good judgment," said the Prime Minister.

"I believe Ed Bethel will lend his special talents and appeal to the heightening of the image of The Bahamas overseas, and I am therefore pleased to be able to nominate and support his appointment," he added.

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For a long time former governments have spoken about using cultural offices and embassies abroad in furtherance of the promotion of investment opportunities in The Bahamas," said Mr. Christie, adding that persons like Mr. Bethel will make this a reality.
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In response to the appointment, Mr. Bethel said, "As Consul General, I hope to strengthen relations with the Bahamian community in the tri-state and all else that fall under my jurisdiction.

"The Consulate General also serves to assist Bahamians in crisis situations and distress and to that end, I will represent our people to the best of my ability in accordance with international law and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular relations."

Mr. Bethel said his new post will enable him to promote the country, take advantage of trade opportunities, and "encourage tourism and cultural activities."

Mr. Bethel made his journalism debut as a reporter for ZNS Radio of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, and the Tribune in 1961.

While at ZNS, Mr. Bethel propelled his career as a play-by-play commentator in 1975, when The Bahamas won its first World Championship belt in the person of Elisha Obed in his fight against Miguel de Oliveria in Paris, France.
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Earlier in his career, Mr. Bethel covered several historic meetings, including those with the late American President John F. Kennedy, and Caribbean and Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings.
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For the past four decades, Mr. Bethel has interviewed numerous celebrities, including The Bahamas' Ambassador to Japan, Sidney Poitier, former World Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, actors Sean Connery, Vanessa Williams, Lou Gosset Jr., performer James Brown, presidents, including Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda, Robert Mugabe, Pierre Trudeau of Canada and Michael Manley of Jamaica.
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The weekly shows "Action-Line" and Sports-Line," the first phone-in radio talk shows to be introduced, were the brainchilds of Mr. Bethel.

In 1990, for a six-month period he was appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Bahamas Embassy in Washington, D.C. as Press Attaché.

He served as anchor of Love 97's recent State Funerals of Sir Randol Fawkes, Archdeacon William Thompson and former Prime Minister the late Sir Lynden Pindling.

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When a hatchling political party began to swirl the comparatively still waters of the Bahamian political pool during the late 1950s and early 1960s, the party's actions and the nation - changing events that followed, caught the attention of a 19-year-old post office worker, Ed Bethel.

As an embryonic PLP gained momentum, regular citizens began questioning the status quo alongside its members who had already begun to poke holes in the once impervious fabric of national politics.

Bethel, a recent high school graduate, could feel the electric charge of the times like bolts of current sprinting through latent power lines.

Press cameras clicked furiously at the action, and busy young reporters scribbled the notes for every headline- grabbing event, knowing that history depended on them as the enchanting times rolled by like a movie reel.

From the steps of the Post Office, young Bethel spied the victorious labour leader, Randol Fawkes, as he exited a courthouse hedged by crowds, after being acquitted of the charges of sedition that had been brought against him in 1958.

Bethel saw an opportunity to sidle up beside the history-makers.He would join the ranks of history's scribes - the reporters who wrote about the present for unseen generations.

"I remember (Fawkes) coming out of the court and winning the case and there were crowds of people - that got me going and I thought I could write about these things," says Bethel as his mind briefly floats away from his office in New York City on a sunny afternoon, travelling back in time to the first glimmer of a

career spanning 30 plus years.

"I wanted a career, and I thought, well here's a career," Bethel ruminates, remembering the thrill of watching pivotal events unfold before his eyes."And I made a career."Although, "I didn't realise it would have been a career," he admits.

Decades later, Bethel, 65, now the Consul General of the Bahamas' consulate in New York, can pull memorable moments in the nation's past from his head like articles from a personal scrapbook.Like the time when Prince Charles asked him, "are you still here," after spotting him at two of the three independence balls that he, then a reporter at the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, broadcasted from on July 9 - 10 in 1973.Or the amazing sense of historical pride he felt watching the aquamarine, gold and black flag rise above Clifford Park at precisely midnight for the first time."At midnight the Union Jack came down and we started singing March on Bahamaland and didn't even know it," smiles Bethel.
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I knew it was history," says Bethel, who counted his role of reporting at the time as a privilege."I knew it was history and I said boy, I want to be a part of that."Bethel entered journalism at the Tribune in 1959, where he trained under Senior Editor, Arthur Foulkes.Four years later, he moved to ZNS where he rose through the ranks during the bulk of his journalism career.During time at the state-owned entity, he was one of a number of employees to go on a special year-long course in communications and radio and television arts at what is now Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the early 1970s.

At ZNS for 32 years, Bethel did the news from 1977 - 8.He managed the Freeport station on two occasions from 1976 - 7 and from 1991 - 2.For an 11 year span in the early 80s to the early 90s, he hosted the weekly programme, Perspective.

In 1993, he became Executive Director of Bahamas Information Services, where he served in that post for two years.A six-year stint at Love 97, where he served as the Deputy General Manager of News, followed his post at Bahamas Information Services and preceded his current role as Consul General.Bethel was appointed to the diplomatic post in October 2002.

Bethel asserts that his extensive journalism career has certainly prepared him for his present role as Consul General, a station that fills his days with endless variety.

"The Consul General really has the role of representing The Bahamas here in New York and projecting Bahamian interests," he says.
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Bethel, who deals with visas, passports and protocol matters as Consul General, also attends weddings, receptions, christenings and funerals in his official capacity.In a Bahamian community that Bethel estimates to be around 5 - 6,000, his social functions as Consul General, can prove to be just as relevant as his other official duties.

In addition to attending functions, the Consul General also hosts them.The office issues about 600 invitations for various celebrations commemorating national events.And last year Bethel hosted a reception for the group of Bahamian students who study at the State University of New York Maritime College in the Bronx.Students also call upon Bethel to do speaking engagements.

In working with students, as well as other Bahamians who relocate, Bethel stresses the importance of registering with the consulate that covers the jurisdiction that a citizen moves to.

"When people come to live in the U.S. they should contact their CG (Consul General) and register with the consulate so that people would know who to contact if anything happens to them."

In his four years as Consul General, Bethel has also involved himself in and endeared himself to the 94 year old Bahamian-American Association.

The Association, originally called the Nassau Bahamas Association, was formed on September 18, 1912 in Harlem by 10 Bahamian men who had moved to the city.Over the decades, the association grew, even purchasing a home - a five storey brownstone at 137th Street in Shriver's Row, a historic area in Harlem - in 1946.

The association will celebrate its 94th year of existence at a gala ball on September 15 in Astoria, Queens this year.

Bethel hosts a themed men's luncheon on the first Saturday of every month with the group.The ladies are invited during May for Mother's Day and July for Independence, he says.About 25 - 30 men attend regularly.

"This has been a happy time for me and my wife," says Bethel, a father of four and grandfather of six, of serving as Consul General in New York.

"It has been an occasion for us to also be able to help people- that has been my biggest reward here," says the Consul General who feels that he has successfully satisfied his own desire to bring unity to the Bahamian diaspora in the thriving metropolis.

They were celebrating the appointment of Senator Edwin brown to the Senate.
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Ed Bethel, President of the Club responded by saying that the facts are that the press club did respond.He said his response was carried in all the media.
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Dr. Bethel raised the issue of crime which is on everyone's mind and he highlighted the complaints of Bahamian workers at the Lucaya Strip hotel development."Bahamians feel that they are being treated unfairly and discriminated against," said Dr. Bethel "because of grave disparity with the pay scale being paid to foreign workers of similar skills ...