In case you missed them last week, both News Director Jules Vasquez and reporter Alfonso Noble were off. They both attended the Pan American Health Organization's awards ceremony held in St. Michael’s Barbados. There they were honored for outstanding accomplishments in reporting on poverty, Aids, and agriculture.
Jules received the regional award for best reporting on poverty reduction for a series of stories he did on the land disenfranchisement of the Mayas of Southern Belize for which it was also singled out as the most outstanding story entered this year.
Alfonso received two certificates: one for reporting on Aids testing and the discrimination of an Aids sufferer in San Ignacio. The other certificate is for the feature he did on the work of Belize's farmers of the year. Here is how that went.
Keith SwiftReporting,
Jules Vasquez and Alfonso Noble were two of ten winners from Caribbean countries flown to the Sherbourne Conference Center in St. Michael Barbados to participate in the 12th Annual PAHO awards ceremony and receive prizes for their work. From a field of a record 78 entries, Channel 7's Jules Vasquez Earned one of 10 regional prizes and Alfonso Noble earned 2 honorable mentions. And while Channel 7 led the way for the most mentions for any TV house participating, Kathleen Drayton, the chair of the regional panel of judges said that on the whole the submissions were excellent.
Kathleen Drayton, Chief Judge
“Entries received were of a high standard. As you were told, in addition to the English speaking Caribbean we received entries from the Dutch speaking Suriname and St. Marten. In all we received entries from 12 countries, 78 entries in all which is the highest number ever submitted throughout the years in the competition.”
And signaled out as the most outstanding submission was Jules Vasquez's “The land is the bank, who holds the key?” - a piece about the dispossession of the Mayas of Southern Belize. Drayton discussed its significance.
Kathleen Drayton,
“The most compelling news story however, which was moving and compelling, related to the rights of natives of poor indigenous people over the land they and their ancestors occupied for centuries. It is a land where one of the most famous civilizations in the Americas flourished. The story also revealed how racial and ethnic divisions and enmity is created among poor people who have similar interests by political actions. It is not unique to any territory. This story was the outstanding one in this year’s competition because it is a story that needs to be told to the region and I hope it will be followed up.”
Jules was asked to make an address on behalf of all the winners, where he addressed the tough job that journalists do
Jules Vasquez, 7NEWS Director
“We journalists we like our work and I think we do it well. But no I overstate our work facetiously but I don’t do it to mock this grand endeavor of making important stories about the communities we live in, so that those of you who live in other communities may see it. Let us ask some height of ourselves. Let us achieve fresh knowledge and not offer peace to our critics through exculpation, evasion, and entertainment.”
The feature address was given by Dr. Omar Davies - Jamaica’s Minister of Finance and Planning. After the event, the winners were hosted at a cocktail and traveled back home with their certificates and awards over the weekend.
See the full list of award winners at PAHO.org
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