As the Caribbean’s annual celebration of outstanding regional media kicks off this evening in Georgetown, Guyana, Belize’s media industry stands poised to claim national recognition on a major regional stage. The 57th Annual General Assembly of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) is hosting this year’s CBU Media Awards, where Belize’s largest media group Greater Belize Media (GBM) has secured an impressive 26 nominations across categories honoring excellence in journalism, digital content creation, and technical broadcasting. This places GBM among the top three most nominated media outlets across the entire Caribbean, trailing only Jamaica’s RJRGLEANER Communications Group which earned 29 nods, and ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Guardian Media with 18 nominations. The momentum is already on Belize’s side this year: veteran Belizean journalist Jules Vasquez has already been awarded the prestigious CBU Caribbean Media Defender Award, marking a major win for the nation before the main awards gala even begins. GBM carries strong momentum into this year’s event after a standout performance in 2025, where it took home 10 awards and four special mentions.
This year’s CBU assembly centers on a timely and critical theme: “Caribbean Media and AI”, a topic that has dominated opening discussions among regional media leaders. CBU President Anthony Green opened the assembly by emphasizing that the conversation around artificial intelligence’s growing role in journalism cannot be imported from global powers – it must be shaped by a distinct Caribbean perspective. “AI is already reshaping how we gather news, create content and connect with audiences,” Green explained. “While it delivers major gains in speed and efficiency, it also forces us to confront tough questions about journalistic accuracy, content authorship, newsroom employment, public trust, and the core values that should guide AI adoption. These are questions we cannot outsource to outside voices; we must answer them for ourselves as a region.”
UNESCO Regional Representative Eric Falt echoed this balanced approach to AI integration, noting that the technology brings unique opportunities for small regional newsrooms that have long operated with limited resources. “UNESCO approaches AI neither with panic nor with unthinking enthusiasm,” Falt told attendees. “AI can help journalists analyze large datasets, translate content for diverse audiences, improve accessibility for disabled audiences, preserve decades of historical media archives, spot emerging trends, and streamline daily workflows. For small news operations across the Caribbean, these benefits are particularly transformative.”
Discussions at the assembly have also centered on a core principle that unites regional media: that technological evolution must never come at the cost of journalistic integrity and public trust. This year’s awards will recognize exceptional work across high-impact categories including environmental reporting, child rights advocacy, investigative journalism, and promotion of Caribbean arts and culture – highlighting the media’s role in addressing pressing regional priorities beyond daily news coverage.
Vasquez, the newly honored Media Defender, used his platform to reaffirm the fundamental role of a free press in democratic societies. “News is a public utility, every bit as essential to daily life as clean water or electricity,” he said. “A modern, functioning democracy cannot survive without an independent press.” That sentiment was echoed by John Feely, director of the Center for Media Integrity of the Americas, who pushed back against growing global narratives that frame independent journalism as an antagonist to government. “A free press is not an enemy of any government,” Feely said. “A responsible, independent press is one of democracy’s most critical safeguards. It will always be irritating, it will always be persistent, and it will sometimes make mistakes – and when it does, it has a responsibility to correct the record. But that is not a flaw in democracy; that is democracy working as it should.”
Tonight’s awards gala will be broadcast live to Belizean audiences on GBM’s channels at 8 p.m. local time, with News Five correspondent Britney Gordon reporting on the ground from Guyana, covering the anticipation among the Belizean delegation and the meaning of this widespread recognition for Belize’s growing broadcasting sector.