Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
The Gleaner's 'Church under probe' team of Daraine Luton (left) and Glenroy Sinclair (centre) receives the President's Award for Investigative Journalism from Nicole Marshall-Walker, public relations and training officer at Jamaica Broilers, during Friday's Press Association of Jamaica's 63rd Annual Journalism Awards Dinner held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel. Absent from photo is Keisha Hill, the other member of the team responsible for the breaking series of stories which led to four men, including a church deacon, being brought before the courts for breach of the Child Care and Protection Act.

Petrina Francis, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

The Gleaner Company was on Friday night recognised for its outstanding work in journalism when it walked away with four of 13 awards at the Press Association of Jamaica's (PAJ) 63rd annual awards ceremony.

Staff reporters Daraine Luton, Glenroy Sinclair and Gleaner writer, Keisha Hill copped the President's Award for Investigative Journalism for their work on 'Church under probe'.

This entry involved a series of stories on the sexual molestation of a 14-year-old girl. The Gleaner obtained a copy of a 35-minute amateur recording with graphic details of the sexual assault.

Sexual molestation case

The newspaper subsequently called in the police who found that a church deacon and three other boys were at the centre of the sexual molestation case. The four were arrested and charged and the matter is still before the court.

In the category of Sports, staff reporter LeVaughn Flynn copped the Raymond Sharp Award for Sports Reporting, for his piece the 'Daniel England story'.

Gleaner cartoonist Lascelles 'Las' May, received the Livingston McLaren Award for Cartoon, and Gleaner columnist Ian Boyne was given the Morris Cargill Award for Opinion Journalism.

Broadcast journalist Dionne Jackson-Miller walked away with the prestigious title, Journalist of the Year, for her evening programme 'Beyond the Headlines', aired on RJR 94 FM. Andrew Canon of CVM received the Carl Wint Award for Feature Story for his work 'Violence in Schools'.

Ralston Hyman of the Sunday Herald received the Carlton Alexander Award for Business and Kirk Wright of TVJ earned the Hector Bernard/Theodore Sealy Award for News.

In addition, Glenford Campbell of CVM Television received the Ken Dawson Award for Video-graphy and the Errol Harvey Award for Human Interest was presented to Jermaine Barnaby of the Sunday Herald.

The Voice, a newspaper that operates out of Clarendon, was presented with the Maurice Garrison Award for Small Publication.

Finally, Karl McClarty of the Jamaica Observer, walked away with the Junior Dowie Award for Sports Photography and Michael Gordon, also of the Jamaica Observer received the Aston Rhoden Award for News Photography, for his controversial piece on Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's doodling, caught in Parliament.

Filled with humour

The presentation ceremony was filled with humour as guest speaker, Mrs. Simpson Miller took hold of the trophy that Gordon won, and showed it off to the audience. She eventually hugged him to the applause of scores of media practitioners and guests who were at the ceremony, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

The Gleaner's award for the 'Church under probe' also received a standing ovation from Mrs. Simpson Miller who had earlier urged the press to join her in campaigning for a moral revolution.

The National Journalism Awards brought the curtains down on the celebration of Journalism Week 2006.