WILLEMSTAD, Curacao, August 28, 2009 – Eight young journalists from various countries in LIAT’s network were trained in Basic Journalism at the second LIAT-sponsored Media Training Workshop held at the Breezes Curacao Resorts Spa and Casino from August 27-29.
They are Kishmar St. Juste of STARCOM Network in Barbados; Sharifa Bashir of TeleCuracao and Ruseño Sambo of Extra Newspaper both in Curacao; Edward Layne of NCN Television and Nadine Luthers of Capitol News both in Guyana; Aabida Allaham of the Express Newspaper and Abby Brathwaite of The Student Press both in Trinidad and Ayanna Carter of Channel 5 Television in Tobago.
In remarks given at the workshop’s opening, Facilitator Johnson JohnRose, a veteran Caribbean Journalist and the Communications Officer at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) said that there was a need for good journalists in the region who can bring appropriate tools to bear on constantly changing situations in a rapidly changing world.
JohnRose pointed to a lack of professionalism by some journalists and called media owners to be more receptive of training opportunities for the men and women in their newsroom.
LIAT has partnered with the CTO, Breezes Curacao Resort and the Curacao Tourist Board in sponsoring the workshops which the journalists were able to attend at no charge to them.
The airline’s Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Challenger said that LIAT supported the workshops from at least three perspectives.
“We really want to create an awareness of our Curacao destination; secondly, this is to give journalists an insight into some of the challenges which the airline industry, particularly LIAT, faces as we go forward; thirdly, we view it as part of our social responsibility,” Mr. Challenger said.
“LIAT is a corporate entity but it is very much a social partner and we are very pleased to be able to provide this aspect of Human Resource Development for our young journalists and media professionals in the Caribbean,” added the Acting CEO.
General Manager of Breezes Curacao Jeanette Bonet in welcoming the journalists to the workshop said that “the media is an important vehicle of communication that we use in the hospitality and tourism industry to get our consumers to know what products we have and to share with them the latest information”.
LIAT’s Human Resource Assistant Ransford Simms and Sales and Banquet Coordinator at Breezes, Trivinia Daantje also attended the workshop and received training in writing and communication.
Five young journalists from Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad were trained during the first workshop held in Curacao from 25th to 26th July.
Netherlands Antilles News