THE Jamaica Observer has copped the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Media Awards 2022 for Health Education Journalism.
The award was presented to former Observer journalist Brittny Hutchinson for her story “Painful Lessons” which detailed the mental challenges that children from Parade Gardens in Central Kingston face after being impacted by gun violence.
The story was a part of the Observer/Rise Life Management street reasoning series in the violence-prone community for Child Month 2022.
Hutchinson, who recently resigned from the media, expressed gratitude for the award, as she had entered several categories in the CBU competition for last year.
“A few hours before the show, I said to my mother, ‘Mommy, I hope I win at least one of these awards. That would be so good’,” Hutchinson said during a phone interview following the award ceremony which was held in Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday.
“To know I actually won for this particular category with this story is a big deal for me, as I’ve always been so passionate about children and their well-being,” added Hutchinson.
Another recent member of the Observer’s news team, Romardo Lyons, received a special mention for Coverage of Disaster Risk Reduction (Print) for the story headlined “Shut it Down”, which detailed the challenges faced by residents in communities around the Riverton Dump which recorded 415 fires between 1996 and 2015.
Other Jamaican winners included the RJR/GLEANER Communications Group which copped the prize for Best News Item (Radio) for a story dubbed “Cost of Living Crisis in Jamaica” which was produced by Giovanni Dennis and The Sunday Gleaner for Coverage of Disaster Risk Reduction (Print) for the story headlined “Poor Quality Building Blocks”, which was produced by Jovan Johnson.
