Herald reporter wins silver
regional journalism award
JAMAICA--The Daily Herald journalist Judy Fitzpatrick has won the silver regional award for excellent reporting in the area of migration and development.
She won the award in the print category of the Caribbean Media Awards, which is open to journalists throughout the region.
Winners were presented with plaques and cash prizes during a ceremony at University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus in Jamaica Saturday night. Other winners in the print and broadcast media were also recognised at the event, attended by a high-level delegation including Caribbean Community Caricom Secretary-General Dr. Edwin Carrington and officials of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and various arms of the United Nations (UN).
Fitzpatrick won the award for her article on the education options available to undocumented immigrant children in St. Maarten, which was published in an edition of The Daily Herald’s WEEKender earlier this year.
Chief Judge and UWI official Marjan de Bruin said all the winning entries were of a very high quality. “We saw characteristics that we look for in media work such as relevance, originality of approach, critical thinking, innovative and challenging Caribbean taboos,” she said during the ceremony, held at UWI’s Visitors Lounge. “Each piece reflected passion and shows the care and commitment of the writer.”
She said too that the winning journalists had managed to steer clear of sensationalism and had penned well-balanced pieces “that people can identify with.” She said though that one of the weaknesses was insufficient background information. She said there had been a higher number of eligible entries in the print category this year than in radio and television. Media professionals were challenged to continue to foster dialogue on population and development themes.
Other winners were Daily Gleaner’s Senior Editor Lynford Simpson; Natalie Edgecombe of Peoples Television in Montserrat, Cedriann Martin, a freelance reporter with Trinidad Express; a team from This Morning news in Jamaica; Sasha Henriques of the RJR Communications Group in Jamaica; Susan Simes of CVN TV in Jamaica; and Gleaner reporter Andrea Downer.
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