Barbados topped the 37th Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Media Awards with 15 awards and eight special mentions, while Jamaica’s RJRGLEANER Communications Group was the most successful media house, securing 13 awards and two special mentions.
According to a release from the CBU, 92 awards and special mentions were announced on Wednesday during a ceremony telecast and streamed across the region from the Atlantic Suites at the Hyatt in Georgetown.
Entries from print, digital and broadcast media in 13 countries and territories across the English-, French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean were recognised in 56 categories. Twenty-two of the categories were supported by regional and international organisations, including the Massy Group, the Caribbean Culture Fund, United Nations agencies, UNICEF, The Nature Conservancy, Sagicor and the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management.
Guyana, the host country, secured four awards and three special mentions, with News Room Inc accounting for all four awards and two of the special mentions. The Guyana Chronicle received the other special mention.
News Room’s Vishani Ragobeer and Davin Ramnarine won the television award for Best Sports Story for *Between Scorecards and Stethoscopes*.
Ragobeer and Shaconeil Burnette also won the award for Best Investigative Report in the television category for *Back to the Beginning: Could a Muddy Coast Be Guyana’s Saviour?*
News Room received another award for *Steel Pan Revival: Guyana’s Big Bands and the Fight to Keep Mash Alive*, produced by Danielle Swain and filmed and edited by Shatanand Anude. The production won the television award for Excellence in Media Coverage of Caribbean Arts and Culture.
Ragobeer was also named Best Producer (TV), completing News Room’s four-award haul.
The company received a special mention in the television category for Excellence in Environmental Reporting on Mangrove/Seagrass Beds for *Sweet Survival: How Guyana’s Mangrove Forests Save the Coastland & Sustain Livelihoods*. The production was done by Neil Marks and filmed and edited by Anude.
News Room’s other special mention was not separately identified in the CBU’s detailed list, although the union said that the media house had secured two.
Meanwhile, Guyana Chronicle reporter Shamar Meusa received a special mention in the print category for Health Education Journalism for *Telemedicine: A Digital Lifeline*.
The CBU said this was the first time in the modern era of the awards that Barbados had finished at the top.
The Barbados Government Information Service led that country’s showing with seven awards and one special mention. The Nation Publishing Company received three awards and four special mentions, while first-time entrant Capital Media HD 99.3 won three awards. Starcom Network secured two awards and one special mention.
Jamaica placed second overall with 14 awards and four special mentions. Apart from the RJRGLEANER group’s showing, the University of the West Indies, Mona won its first award in one of the newly introduced student categories, while the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica received a special mention.
Trinidad and Tobago secured six awards and nine special mentions. The Express Newspaper and CCN TV6 accounted for two awards and three special mentions, while TTT Ltd received two awards and two special mentions.
Guardian Media won one award and two special mentions, and first-time entrant Carnival Catwalk secured one award. The now-closed Trinidad Newsday also received a special mention.
Belize collected five awards and four special mentions, with Greater Belize Media accounting for all but one of the wins.
Several first-time entrants also made an impact. Richès Karayibof Martinique secured two awards and two special mentions; St Lucia Times received two awards and one special mention; and the Agency for Public Information of St Vincent and the Grenadines won one award and one special mention.
Compass TV of the Cayman Islands received three special mentions, while the BVI Beacon of the British Virgin Islands earned one.
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