In its first appearance at the 37th CBU Media Awards, Richès Karayib walked away with four honors: two Awards and two Special Mentions. The results were announced on August 19 in Georgetown, Guyana, during a ceremony that was broadcast and streamed throughout the region. This debut immediately established the media outlet as one of the standout newcomers at this 37th edition.
Four awards on his first try
The Caribbean Broadcasting Union has named Richès Karayib among the “first-time entrants” that made a strong impression this year. In total, the media outlet received two awards and two special mentions in the Print and Digital categories.
This recognition comes during a particularly packed edition. The 37th CBU Media Awards honored 92 winners of Awards and Special Mentions across 56 categories. Professionals and media outlets from thirteen countries and territories across the English-, French-, and Spanish-speaking Caribbean had their productions honored. According to Richès Karayib, the award-winning content spans several editorial areas: sports, art, heritage, and Caribbean music.
A Conference on Media, Culture, and Artificial Intelligence
The Media Awards were part of the 57th Annual General Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union, held in Georgetown. From the opening ceremony onward, the event featured institutional addresses, discussions on the future of the media, and expressions of Caribbean culture. Michella Abraham-Ali hosted the evening, which opened with a parade of flags representing the participating territories. CBU President Anthony Greene then highlighted the challenges facing the region’s media, ranging from economic viability to the arrival of artificial intelligence in newsrooms.
Eric Falt, UNESCO’s regional representative for the Caribbean, placed trust, ethics, and journalistic responsibility at the heart of his remarks. Guyana’s President, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, also spoke, emphasizing the need for Caribbean media to master new technologies without abandoning their role in conveying the realities and identities of the region.
The atmosphere wasn’t limited to the speeches. Music, drums, a saxophone performance by Roy Stewart, and segments highlighting Guyanese traditions set the tone for the ceremony. It was a way of reminding everyone that this professional gathering was also a meeting of territories, cultures, and media professionals from the Caribbean.
Two print awards: the Transat Café L’Or and Cécile Vernant
The two awards received by Richès Karayib recognize editorial pieces resulting from interviews conducted by the media outlet’s team. The first award, in the Best Sports Story – Print category, honors the piece dedicated to “La Transat Cafe L’or,” , which was based on an interview with Damien de Longueville, president of the Martinique Transat association. The coverage of this sporting event thus received an award at the 37th CBU Media Awards.
The second award, in the Best Entertainment Item – Print category, honors the feature on “Cécile Vernant: A Multimedia Artist Who Sculpts the Island’s Memory,” which also stemmed from an encounter with the artist. Through this exchange, Richès Karayib developed content centered on her work, her artistic practice, and the concept of memory that she explores in her creations.
These two awards highlight two very different events. One is in the world of sports, the other in that of artistic creation. Yet they have one thing in common: each tells a story rooted in a specific region and shaped by a Caribbean perspective.
Two Special Mentions in the Digital Categories
Richès Karayib also received two Special Mentions for digital productions. “Les Journées du Patrimoine ” received a Special Mention in the Best Entertainment Item – Digital category.
A second Special Mention was awarded to “Machel Montano: Summer Fest Anguilla” in the category of Excellence in Media Coverage of Caribbean Arts and Culture – Digital, sponsored by the Caribbean Culture Fund. With these honors, the 37th CBU Media Awards thus honor Richès Karayib for both print and digital content.
The range of awards also highlights the diversity of topics that Richès Karayib can cover, from heritage to culture, including music, art, and sports. It also highlights the team’s expertise and multidimensional approach, which brings these topics to life across various media, from print magazines to web articles, as well as short-form and long-form video productions.
Four stories, many ways to tell the story of the Caribbean
Beyond the list of winners, the selection reflects a diverse editorial approach. *La Transat Café L’Or* tells the story of sports. The profile of Cécile Vernant focuses on creativity and memory. Heritage Days explores the concept of cultural transmission. The feature on Machel Montano and the Summer Fest Anguilla is part of the broader movement of Caribbean music scenes.
While these pieces do not tell the same story, they share a common goal: to document events, figures, and expressions that contribute to the region’s cultural and social life. In a competition bringing together established media outlets from several regions, this first-time participation marks an important milestone for Richès Karayib.
The media outlet is listed in the press release among the distinguished newcomers, alongside the St. Lucia Times, API from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Compass TV from the Cayman Islands, and The BVI Beacon. This first participation also takes place in an edition that recognized several major players in the Caribbean media landscape, including RJRGLEANER Communications Group in Jamaica, The Nation Publishing Company and Starcom Network in Barbados, TTT Ltd, Guardian Media, and Trinidad Express in Trinidad and Tobago, Greater Belize Media in Belize, and News Room Inc. in Guyana. Being included in this regional list allows Richès Karayib to position its expertise alongside recognized and experienced media organizations from across the Caribbean.
A first participation that marks the beginning of a new phase
The 37th CBU Media Awards mark a first for Richès Karayib, which made a strong impression from the moment it entered the competition, in both the Print and Digital categories. This regional recognition comes in a space where English-, French-, and Spanish-language media converge. It also highlights the role that stories produced in Martinique can play in a broader media conversation across the Caribbean.
Acknowledgments
Richès Karayib would like to thank everyone who makes these productions possible: the public figures and professionals who place their trust in us and share their expertise; the teams working on each piece of content; and our readers and communities, who bring these stories to life beyond their local regions.
We would like to extend our special thanks to the Caribbean Broadcasting Union for this recognition and for the opportunities it creates for stakeholders in the Caribbean media landscape to come together. We also thank the region’s media outlets with which we collaborate and exchange ideas, and which, each from their own territory, help share the stories, perspectives, and expertise of the Caribbean.
Finally, Richès Karayib thanked Guyana for its hospitality, as well as the teams from the local organizing committee and everyone involved in the 57th CBU Annual General Assembly and the 37th CBU Media Awards. Their efforts made it possible to bring together professionals from various regions in Georgetown to share ideas, reflect, and celebrate Caribbean media.
For Richès Karayib, the next chapter will build on this momentum: telling the stories of these regions, following the people who bring them to life, and forging more connections between the different regions of the Caribbean. After this first appearance at the 37th CBU Media Awards, a new question now arises: which Caribbean stories will be the next to cross the borders of their respective regions?
Richès Karayib received four honors at the 37th CBU Media Awards: two awards and two special mentions, in its first year of participation in the competition.
The featured content is La Transat Cafe L’or, Cecile Vernant: A multimedia artist who sculpts the island’s memory, Heritage Days and Machel Montano; Summer Fest Anguilla.
The results of the 37th CBU Media Awards were announced on August 19 at the Atlantic Suites at the Hyatt in Georgetown, Guyana, during a ceremony broadcast throughout the region.
