A series on the homeless and an exploration of female drug addiction were the compelling pieces of Express journalism that have captured an award from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

The Express walked off with a tie for Best Feature Article, which was shared between its journalist Richard Charan and former Express Woman writer, Cedriann Martin. The awards took place on Thursday at the Queen’s Park Oval.

Last year, Charan commanded the attention of thousands of readers with a series that began by tracing the lives of several homeless citizens, from their time as ’normal’ people to their getting lost to the streets.

Charan took it a step further in his quest to truly understand the life of a homeless person when he spent 24 hours on the streets, completely at the mercy of the elements and of those may have wanted to victimise someone in that position.

Martin, well-known in the region for her pursuit of women’s rights and healthcare, won for what the judges saw as an ’in-depth’ account of the female face of drug addiction.

Though no longer with the Express, Martin’s article was printed in the popular Sunday Express pull-out magazine, Express Woman.

For the first time since the start of the awards 17 years ago, the judges report was not delivered by local media veteran, Jones P Madeira, who is recovering from a health intervention.

The address was instead delivered by Dr Godfrey Steele, lecturer in Communication Studies in the Department of Liberal Arts at the University of the West Indies in St Augustine.

Steele lamented that the radio is apparently no longer seen by the public as a news source, after announcing that there had been no entries in the radio category of the awards.

He went on to appeal to journalists to be more proactive in health reporting.

He added that he had hoped to see more collaboration between journalists, policy makers and civil society and he called on policy makers to reach out more to the media.

However, Steele congratulated the winners and sought to remind the readership that these journalists often worked under less-than stellar conditions and often at risk to their own health.

Winners:

Print

Best News Story-Carol Matroo, Guardian, for a story on South Trinidad teenagers being lured into prostitution.

Best Feature Article-Richard Charan, Express and Cedriann Martin, formerly of the Express.

Television

Best News Report-Charlene Stuart, CNMG, for a piece on organ and tissue donation.

Best Feature Documentary-Sheldon Yearwood, WinTV, for a piece on the tragic life of one child.

Merit Awards

Golda Lee, CNMG, for a piece on tobacco use and radio personalities Garth St Clair and Natasha Nunez, for the programme, ’Eye on Dependency’.