The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago has praised Express Editor-at-Large Keith Smith for his achievement in journalism. The comment comes after Smith was awarded the Hummingbird Medal (Silver) at the National Awards Ceremony on Monday (Independence Day).

In a statement yesterday, the association said Smith ’has become a national institution who is treasured for his wit and his down-to-earth wisdom. Over the years, he has conducted, in his newspaper column, a seemingly offhand but shrewd and searching examination of the different threads that make up the fabric of everyday life in Trinidad and Tobago’.

The statement added, ’Smith has always been scornful of the pretensions of novice journalists who hankered to offer their opinions on events in the news. He has always insisted that that was a privilege that had to be earned, and the price to be paid was years of soldiering in the trenches of reporting.

’This is the second time in two years that a veteran journalist has been recognised in this way, and Matt hopes that this is a sign that the contribution of professional journalists in leading and shaping public opinion is being increasingly understood and appreciated.’

Last year, David De Veer Renwick, now an energy columnist, was awarded the Hummingbird Medal (Gold).