By Matthew Falloon, Staff Reporter
The Gleaner's Chief Photographer, Rudolph Brown, accepts the Aston Rhodes Award for News Photography from Red Stripe's Fern Budhoo at the Press Association of Jamaica 2002 Awards ceremony at the Courtleigh Hotel, Kingston on Saturday night. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
THE GLEANER came out on top, once again, at this year's Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) awards, romping home with six awards across the board and ten certificates of merit.
Gleaner stalwart Ken Allen, along with Hector Bernard, also received Wordsmith Awards.
Topping entries in the Opinion, Health, Sub-Editing, Design and Layout, Cartoons, News Photography and Human Interest Photography, Gleaner staff contributions overwhelmed those from the Observer (two awards) and the Sunday Herald (one award) in the press category at the PAJ awards ceremony staged at the Courtleigh Hotel, Kingston on Saturday night.
The Frank Hill Award for Opinion Journalism went to Tony Becca for his "From the Boundary" column; the PAJ Award for Health went to Patricia Watson for her body of work on HIV/AIDS; the PAJ Award for Sub-Editing, Design and Layout went to The Gleaner team for their pullout sections and the Food supplement; the PAJ Award for Cartoons went to Las May, for his body of work, including 'The Seaga Energiser Bunny'; Rudolph Brown walked away with the Aston Rhodes Award for News Photography for 'Dead Pain'; and Ian Allen's expert 'Photogenic Bird' won the PAJ Award for Human Interest Photography.
The evening also recognised the work of Ken Chaplin, for his persistent attention to the case of Clinton Bernard in the Jamaica Observer. He received the Archie Lindo Award for Outstanding Public Service. Chaplin's Observer colleague, Michael Gordon, snapped up the PAJ Award for Sport Photography for his shot, 'Flying Floyd,' and the Sunday Herald's Desmond Richards received the PAJ Joint Award for News for his in-depth piece entitled, 'Illegal guns in Jamaica traced to Florida'.
In addition to his Wordsmith Award, Hector Bernard took the PAJ Award for Small Publications for his 'Insight'.
In radio, KLAS FM's popular and innovative afternoon show, 'Scoreboard,' received the Strebor Roberts Joint Award for Sports Journalism, and RJR's popular presenter, Dionne Jackson-Miller, won the PAJ Award for Business for her series on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.
The state-owned television production company, CPTC-TV, won two major awards in the television category as Cliff Hughes' 'Impact' received the PAJ Award for Investigative Journalism and Louis McLean grabbed the PAJ Award for Videography for his work on the 'Community Development' production. CVM-TV's Kingsley Roberts won the PAJ Award for Environment Journalism, for his 'Dredging effect on the coastline' while TVJ's Michael Sharpe and Gareth Daley received the PAJ Joint Award for News for 'Fire'.
PAJ President, Glen McFarlane, congratulated those who had shown excellence and professionalism in the field this year.
"Media people encompass a cadre that delights in speaking about everybody else's work," he said, noting that the awards allow the work of journalists "to be put under the microscope."
