On August 20, 2026, Belize’s media landscape earned a historic milestone at the 37th annual Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Media Awards held in Georgetown, Guyana, when Greater Belize Media (GBM) secured a dominant haul of regional recognition, cementing its place among the Caribbean’s top news organizations. The ceremony gathered more than 100 media professionals from 13 Caribbean countries and territories, celebrating outstanding work across reporting, production, digital innovation, and visual storytelling. Out of the nine total awards and special mentions earned by Belizean outlets at the event, GBM claimed eight, including five first-place awards and four special mentions.
The recognition spanned every department of GBM’s newsroom, highlighting consistent excellence across traditional broadcast and emerging digital platforms. One of the most high-profile wins went to reporter Britney Gordon and videographer George Tillett, who took home the top prize in the Child Rights Champion: Investigative Reporting Story category for their hard-hitting investigation, *Special Ed Students Locked Out of School Two Days Straight*. For Gordon, the award is more than a personal honor—it is validation of the critical work local journalists do to amplify underrepresented voices. “I feel very proud and very honored. I think that the award that I won was for a very important cause, dealing with children’s rights, and so it’s a very big accomplishment, not just to me, but the entire team,” Gordon shared in an interview following the ceremony. “It’s certainly validating. We put in a lot of hard work, late nights sometimes, taking work home, early mornings. So just to see that that is recognized regionally, internationally is very rewarding, but the real reward is hearing the feedback from the viewers and seeing how they engage with the content that we produce.”
Veteran reporter Paul Lopez, who also earned individual recognition for his outstanding work, emphasized that every award won by GBM staff is the product of a collaborative newsroom culture. He noted that individual credits only tell a small part of the story, crediting cameramen, editors, graphic designers, and behind-the-scenes control room staff for the organization’s consistent success. “The team here at Greater Belize Media is really the backbone,” Lopez explained. “Everybody that works in putting together the news product, whether it is the reporters writing the story, it’s the cameramen behind the cameras pressing record and ensuring that the edited package is done to the highest standard; whether it is the graphics team that are ensuring that the stories we put out are visually appealing to our audience or whether it is the behind-the-scenes team in the control room that are ensuring that what viewers see on a day-to-day basis that it runs smoothly. It takes teamwork and it’s a collaborative effort. So while we may be recognized individually on the awards, those names are just a handful of the people that really makes the dream work at GBM.”
GBM’s success also reflected the shifting landscape of news consumption across Belize, where audiences increasingly turn to digital and social platforms for real-time updates instead of waiting for traditional evening newscasts. That shift earned digital content creator Benita Keme-Palacio the award for Best Social Media Content Creator, a win that also recognizes GBM’s forward-thinking investment in expanding its digital footprint to meet audiences where they are. Keme-Palacio noted that digital content roles in newsrooms have long been overlooked, making the regional recognition particularly meaningful. “I am very honored, I’m grateful and thrilled to really get recognition for this role because it is a role that we often don’t hear that much about when we think of a newsroom in terms of being a content creator in a newsroom,” she said. “What has made a change in need of having a digital team in News 5 is the audience, the change of how people are consuming news. They’re looking at platforms or accessing platforms such as social media and other digital platforms where they can learn more, get educated, get information and all of that.”
Graphics coordinator Sheena Smith also earned widespread acclaim, taking home three honors including one award and two special mentions for her work on the GBM comedy production *Grinch Steals Christmas at GBM*. Rick Romero won the award for Best Videographer, and joined Smith and Nisa Sanchez to claim a shared award for the same comedy production. Smith shared that even special mentions carried significant weight, as they prove GBM creatives can hold their own against the top talent across the Caribbean. “I think it speaks to the work that we do here at GBM. And I think we all have a passion for what we do at some level, and I think that just having some type of recognition, even if it’s not an award, but it’s still a special mention,” Smith said. “In the beginning of yesterday’s award ceremony, the person who opened it spoke about special mention being just as good as the award, maybe just a few points below. So that made me feel really good knowing that I’m able to compete regionally among the best.”
Organizers of the CBU Media Awards noted that GBM’s large haul of honors underscores the growing quality and impact of local storytelling in Belize, with the outlet’s work standing out among hundreds of entries from across the region. The awards mark a new high point for GBM, solidifying its reputation as a leader in Caribbean journalism and digital media innovation.