Awards gala will reward media professionals who emerged winners in competition to promote climate-change awareness
Today, Tuesday, August 15, local media professionals will be
rewarded for their contributions to spreading the word about a
vexing issue: climate change.
Dr. Colin Young, the executive director of the Caribbean Community
Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), will hand over trophies to winners
of the climate-change media awards here, in Antigua and Barbuda.
The awards gala is expected to take place at Government House,
hosted by His Excellency Sir Rodney Williams, Governor-General,
and his wife, Sandra Lady Williams.
Following the joint launch of the awards on February 1, this year, for
material published in 2022, 57 entries were received in eight of the
14 eligible categories.
The categories were open to eligible media professionals in Antigua
and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, the
Commonwealth of Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada,
Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent &
The Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.
The highest number of entries received was in the category of news,
with 17 submissions, while the media genre having the most entries
was television, with 34 submissions in four categories.
Apparently, recent awareness studies have shown that the
mainstream media, particularly television and radio, are still
popular sources of climate-change information for Caribbean
populations, as well as the preferred sources for most
demographics.
Speaking ahead of the awards ceremony, communications specialist
Tecla Fontenard emphasized the important role that Caribbean
media play in driving the climate-change agenda and building public
awareness of its impacts and opportunities.
Fontenard, who leads the initiative on behalf of the CCCCC, says it is
honoured to celebrate with the Caribbean journalists, reporters, and
digital content creators who have emerged winners in this esteemed
first-time contest.
The awards ceremony is the first of its kind for the CCCCC and was
achieved in collaboration with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union.
The programme is financially supported by the European Union
under the EU-GCCA+ Programme, “Enhancing Climate Resilience”
in CARIFORUM countries.
