Two Guyana Times journalists were recipients of various awards as the Guyana Press Association (GPA) hosted its second annual dinner and awards ceremony on Sunday evening at the Georgetown Club.
Shemuel Fanfair, who reports primarily on agriculture, politics and legal matters, received the second prize for Young Journalist-of-the-Year as well as the third prize for the best political story.
Meanwhile, Lakhram Bhagirat, who principally specialises in health, human rights, community issues and feature writing, secured the third place prize for the Young Journalist-of-the-Year category and for best coverage of human rights issues. Both winners are West Demerara natives.
The Young Journalist-of-the-Year Award for which the two reporters secured second and third respectively required that entrants submit five stories of a consistently high quality. Fanfair’s five entries ranged from a Wales father of four pleading for his severance pay, to the social ills abound in Wakenaam, Essequibo River, owing to challenges in the rice industry.
Bhagirat’s third place prize for best coverage for human rights stories focused on his in-depth reporting on the Mental Health Unit’s plans to roll out a suicide surveillance system. Therein, he reported that teachers would be trained to identify children with psychological trauma.
For his five entries that secured him the third place prize for Young Journalist-of-the-Year, the journalist’s work included the September 2017 report where parents of three-year-old Anisha Singh were calling for a probe into their daughter’s death.
Bhagirat was one of the reporters who went to the interior community of Chenapau, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and his story was focused on the plight of miners who were arrested for allegedly mining in protected areas. Additionally, he reported on Charity Market vendors refusing to relocate and another story where a first-time mother recalled a horrifying experience at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Maternity Ward. His final entry in this category concerned Berbice businessmen laying off sugar workers in preparation for the closure of the Rose Hall Estate.
Attorney Nigel Hughes was the guest speaker at the media awards. Giving brief remarks, he highlighted the importance of journalists in several sectors, but especially in the political arena.
“You possess the unrivaled talent to shape the development of our country – use it for this purpose rather than lend support to talking heads which are sometimes focused on making political points spreading doom and gloom without spreading alternative solutions and approaches,” Hughes implored.
Meanwhile, GPA President Nazima Raghubir observed that the 2018 ceremony was organised to give the much-needed credit and recognition for outstanding performances in the media fraternity. She said too that the work of journalists is key to holding members of civil and political society accountable.
Vanessa Braithwaite from the State newspaper emerged at the top awardee after copping a total of seven awards, including Young Journalist-of-the-Year.
More than 30 journalists entered stories in the print, television and online categories. There were more than 180 entries across 11 categories which exceeded last year’s ceremony.
