THE Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL) has again dominated the 2017 PAHO/ WHO Clare Forrester Media Awards for Health Journalism, winning a total of 19 awards, including the award for the entity with the most submissions.

Under the theme: “Positively transforming health through the media in Guyana,” the awards honour journalists who have contributed throughout the year in raising awareness on local health matters.
According to PAHO/WHO Representative to Guyana, Dr. William Adu-Krow, these awards have seen health journalism grow from strength to strength, with a whopping 97 entries having been submitted this year.

Despite several journalists receiving accolades, Dr. Adu-Krow said, “The overall winner is the entire community.”
He detailed the role of journalists in effecting change and reporting on facts.

He referenced the historic passing of the Tobacco Control Bill earlier this year, the reintroduction of the HPV vaccine and the initiation of the Mass Drug Administration Campaign for Filaria as key areas where the media have been instrumental.
Senior Reporter Svetlana Marshall scored first in the Best Print News Story and Online News Story categories. She was also placed second in the latter category.

Senior Reporter Rabindra Rooplall also won three prizes. He got second for Best Print News Story, third for Best Print Feature and third for Best Online News story.
Vishani Ragobeer, a young freelance journalist attached to this newspaper, won first place for the Best Online Feature Story, second for Best Print Feature story and the special prize for the Best Story in support of the Mass Drug Administration Campaign for Filaria.

In the inaugural photojournalism category, Chronicle photographer Samuel Maughn scored first and third places for the feature category and second and third for the news category. Chronicle Chief photographer, Adrian Narine, scored the first place in the News Category while Assistant Chief Photographer, Delano Williams, scored second in the feature category.

Senior Reporter Vanessa Braithwaite scored second in the Best Online Feature category and received an honourable mention in the Best Print News category, while reporter Navendra Seoraj received an honourable mention in the Best Online News category.
Commending the work of the Chronicle staffers, Board Chair Geeta Chandan- Edmond noted that as a lawyer by profession, she is not usually at a loss for words, but was blown away by Chronicle’s domination of the highly reputed competition.

She noted too that while Chronicle would have achieved such a feat, she called for all local journalists to participate in the competition and seek to grow in their field.
Aside from the Guyana Chronicle’s accolades, Stabroek News’ Shares Bacchus emerged winner in the Best Print category; Kristen Macklingam from HGPTV News scored the Best Broadcast Television category and Capitol News’s Handel Duncan scored for Best Broadcast Feature Story. Loreen Warde produced the Best Television Feature.

An award for Excellence in Partnership was presented to Cuba’s Ambassador, Julio Cesar Gonzalez Marchante while Leola Barnes, Cecelia Reid and Rita Torquarto were awarded for their long services in Maternal and Child Health.
Chief Judge, Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin, who gave the Chief Judge’s report, highlighted that the state-owned media dominated the competition and called for other media entities to give the Chronicle a run for its money.

She also highlighted that the criteria for the competition would be made more stringent in coming years in an effort to force journalists to keep raising the standard of their work.
Dr. Martin noted that online journalism, in particular, was one area that needed more refining.

The new category of photojournalism came after PAHO hosted the first-ever photojournalism workshop in Guyana earlier this year. This category of the competition was something she and the other four judges had lobbied for.