GBM Newsroom Ranks Among Caribbean’s Best

Belizean stories, voices and journalists earned major recognition on the regional stage last night. Greater Belize Media walked away from the thirty-seventh Caribbean Broadcasting Union Media Awards with five awards and four special mentions. The ceremony brought together media professionals from thirteen Caribbean countries and territories in Georgetown, Guyana. Of the nine recognitions awarded to Belize, GBM claimed eight.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

For the journalists, producers, videographers and digital team at Greater Belize Media, the recognition reflects the work that happens every day inside our newsroom. GBM took home awards across news, digital and production categories with several team members receiving regional recognition for their work. Among the highlights was reporter Britney Gordon and videographer George Tillett, who won the Child Rights Champion: Investigative Reporting Story category for their report, Special Ed Students Locked Out of School Two Days Straight.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporter, Greater Belize Media

“I feel very proud and very honored. I think that the award that I won was for a very important cause, dealing with children’s rights and so it’s a very big accomplishment, not just to me, but the entire team, that we were able to be recognized for our reporting on that. It’s certainly validating. You know, we- like you said it’s a lot of hard work, late nights sometimes, taking work home, early mornings. So just to see that that is recognized regionally, internationally is very rewarding but the real reward is hearing the feedback from the viewers and seeing how they engage with our content that we produce. So that’s really what it’s all about.”

 

Reporter Paul Lopez was among those recognized for outstanding work. But he says the honor goes far beyond the name engraved on the award. For Lopez, every winning story reflects the hard work, creativity and commitment of the entire newsroom.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporter, Greater Belize Media

“The team here at Greater Belize Media is really the backbone. Everybody that works in putting together the news product, whether it is the reporters writing the story, it’s the cameramen behind the cameras pressing record and ensuring that the edited package is done to the highest standard; whether it is the graphics team that are ensuring that the stories we put out are visually appealing to our audience or whether it is the behind-the-scenes team in the control room that are ensuring that what viewers see on a day-to-day basis that it runs smoothly. It takes teamwork and it’s a collaborative effort. So while we may be recognized individually on the awards those names are just a handful of the people that really makes the dream work at GBM.”

 

Belizeans are no longer waiting for the evening newscast to find out what is happening. They are getting news wherever they are and across multiple platforms. That changing media landscape earned Benita Keme-Palacio the award for Best Social Media Content Creator. The recognition also celebrates GBM’s digital team, which works behind the scenes to take reliable news beyond television and deliver it directly to online audiences.

 

Benita Keme-Palacio, Content Creator, Greater Belize Media

“I am very honored, I’m grateful and thrilled to really get recognition for this role because it is a role that we often don’t – we don’t hear that much when we think of a newsroom in terms of being a content creator in a newsroom. What has made a change in need of having a digital team in News 5 is the audience, the change of how people are consuming news in the audience. So they want – they’re looking at platforms or accessing platforms such as social media and other digital platforms where they can learn more and get educated, get information and all of that.”

 

That success also extended to our graphics department, where Sheena Smith earned three honors. Her work on the GBM comedy production Grinch Steals Christmas at GBM received recognition, along with two special mentions.

 

Sheena Smith, Graphics Coordinator, Greater Belize Media

“I think it speaks to the work that we do here at GBM. And I think we all have a passion for what we do at some level, and I think that just having some type of recognition, even if it’s not an award, but it’s still a special mention. I think that in the beginning of yesterday’s award ceremony, I think the person who opened it spoke about special mention being just as good as the award, maybe just a few points below. So that made me, that made me feel, you know, really good knowing that I’m able to compete regionally among the best.”

 

Rick Romero won Best Videographer and shared another award with Sheena Smith and Nisa Sanchez for Grinch Steals Christmas at GBM. The honors show that GBM’s storytelling can compete with the Caribbean’s best. Shane Williams for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: