The Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS) received its Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Media Awards on Monday, after winning in three categories at the recently held CBU Caribbean Media Awards in Trinidad and Tobago.  

They were presented by CBU Secretary General, Sonia Gill, at the CBU Secretariat in Barbados.

The BGIS won in the categories: Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic with “COVID Stories 246 – Not The Common Cold”; Best Public Service Spot with “COVID-19 Contact Types Explained”, and Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Digital) – “COVID-19 Story: The Mathematics of a Virus”. 

Winners in the category Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic were: Shamkoe Pilé, Sharon Austin-Gill-Moore, Joel Bowen, Carl Allman, and Ian Inniss.  The recipient of the award for Coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Digital) was Esther Jones, while Paula Harper-Grant and Mikul Elcock won in the Best Public Service Spot.

Speaking during the brief presentation ceremony, Acting Chief Information Officer, Ian Inniss, noted that although the BGIS was not present at the first in-person awards ceremony coming out of the pandemic, it was a pleasure for the BGIS to have learnt that “we were winners in three categories, and narrowly missed out on one”.  

Mr. Inniss added: “When you think of the fact that out of 258 submissions, BGIS was up there alongside CCN TV6, RJR Gleaner, Great Belize Productions and other regional entities, it speaks volumes about the quality of work produced within the department.

“It is also testimony to the effort that members of the department would have put in during the pandemic, when others were sleeping at night and in those times when others were in lockdown. Over that period, the members of the department were constantly working….  So, having won the three awards, I can only but have praise for members of the department at this time.”

Secretary General Gill pointed out that the Caribbean Media Awards was approaching three decades of service to the region, and the CBU, which was established in 1970, was always about development of the region through media practice and the development of media practitioners.

She continued: “One of the key ways to recognise excellence and to encourage it is to have awards such as these.  In the years between 2019 and 2022, the recognition had to be purely virtual, but at no point has the CBU ever lowered the rigour of its assessment of the entries…. More than 300 entries were received and the determination was made about which ones would even be eligible for nomination, and for consideration by our expert panel of judges…. 

“These categories in which the Barbados Government Information Service has been successful are particularly important. The CBU Awards do not just look at best technical aspects, in terms of the production, or the publication or the writing; those are very, very important, and if that bar is not met, then it can’t go forward. But we have also always integrated thematic categories, and for the past three years, looking carefully at the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has been very important to the CBU.  What these winning entries demonstrated was not only excellence in their production and conception and in their execution, but also in addressing the real needs of audiences identified.”

During the presentation ceremony, the BGIS also received its certificate, acknowledging it as a CBU Associate Member.

The Starcom Network Inc. was the only other Barbadian entity which received a Caribbean Media Award.  The company won Best Documentary Programme (Radio) with the entry “Fighting Crime”. 

The winners of the Caribbean Media Awards were announced during the 53rd CBU General Assembly in August.  This year’s judges were Enrico Woolford (Chief Judge), Dr. Sh

aron Marshall, Dr. Yvonne Weekes, Zadie Neufville, and Andrew Millington.  (PR & pic GIS)