CONGRATULATIONS TO WESLEY GIBBINGS

MEDIA RELEASE

CONGRATULATIONS TO WESLEY GIBBINGS

August 14, 2017

Minister of Public Administration and Communications, the Honourable Maxie Cuffie wishes to congratulate the President of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), Wesley Gibbings who received the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) “Percy Qoboza Foreign Journalist Award.”

Gibbings received the award in recognition of his work in the promotion of press freedom throughout the Caribbean during a ceremony held at the NABJ Convention and Career Fair in New Orleans on August 11, 2017. Gibbings, a freelance journalist and columnist, also devotes time to training media workers across the region.

Minister Cuffie thanked Gibbings for the work he has done and continues to do, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago. He said in a changing media environment and an equally challenging world, media training is pivotal in nurturing journalists and helping them understand the role they play in a democracy.

“I have no doubt Gibbings’ work has influenced the way editorial content is gathered and disseminated in newsrooms throughout the Caribbean. Journalists thrive in environments where they can pursue stories unfettered by interference, political or otherwise, and as Minister with responsibility for Communications, I am mindful of this fact and the need to ensure an enabling environment.”

Minister Cuffie said through Gibbings’ work with journalists, citizens are given a voice and are now more informed and knowledgeable about decisions that impact their lives.  Resources like Gibbings are integral to free flow of information.

The award received by Gibbings is named in memory of the late Percy Peter Tshidiso Qoboza, editor of The World newspaper in Soweto, South Africa, whose columns ranged from coverage of the 1976 Soweto riots to the tragic horror of apartheid and the white minority government's treatment of millions of black Africans.

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