‘Some people won’t like the work we do’
Journalist of the Year Giovanni Dennis makes peace with being disliked for doing his job
Published:Monday | November 25, 2024 | 12:06 AM
After receiving threats and abuse over his unearthing of hidden issues affecting the lives of citizens across the nation, Giovanni Dennis, the Press Association of Jamaica’s (PAJ) 2024 Journalist of the Year, felt like giving in and leaving Jamaica.
Dennis had been receiving threats since his special report highlighting illegal drag racing in June.
“This year, the truth is, I almost quit, and I was prepared to run away in June after doing a story and the kind of threats I received thereafter. So winning this tonight, it really is humbling, and [I’m] grateful,” Dennis told The Gleaner immediately after collecting the night’s most prestigious trophy from PAJ President Dashan Hendricks at the association’s annual awards ceremony held at S Hotel in St Andrew.
Having previously won in 2022, Dennis is now a two-time Journalist of the Year.
The award win capped a night in which the RJRGLEANER Communications Group secured 16 trophies altogether.
“I am humbled to be awarded the Journalist of the Year by the Press Association of Jamaica, and I hope to continue doing my best and to just do my work,” he said.
The girl dad added that one of the things that kept him sane after receiving the threats and the trials they brought into his life, was a quote by Margaret Atwood: ‘The desire to be loved is the last illusion. Give it up and you will be free”.
“I have to now accept that the kind of journalism I want to do, some people nah go like me, and some people are going to be upset, and the truth is journalism at its core is about publishing something that somebody somewhere does not want to be published, and I have to accept that some people nah go like di work weh mi do,” Dennis told The Gleaner.
Now that Dennis has been awarded for his courageous reporting efforts, he is happy that he never left the paradise of Jamaica.
“It’s not like journalists get up wanting to be disliked or hated, but it’s a fact of life that some people won’t like the work that we do, and I have to now accept that and to continue as a journalist, which is what I intend to do, to continue doing my work and put my best work forward every year,” Dennis said.
“We work under trying circumstances in Jamaica. We’re heavily criticised, especially journalists with the RJRGLEANER Group. We’re always being attacked online, and this year was a particularly challenging year, [but] it’s an honour. It really is the honour of my life to be awarded the Journalist of the Year in Jamaica from such a competitive field,” he said.
The Journalist of the Year Award was just one of four awards Dennis received on Saturday night. He was also part of the All Angles team that took home the award for Excellence in Reporting on Health and Wellness for ` All Angles Investigates Noise Pollution and won the Carlton Alexander Award for Business Journalism and the Hector Bernard/Theodore Sealy Award for News Journalism (Electronic).
The PAJ awards ceremony was the penultimate event for National Journalism Week, which will end today with an online PAJ Forum examining ‘Media Power: Shaping Democracy or Serving Agendas?’.
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List of Awardees for 2024
Carl Wint Award for Best Feature Story (Print)
Corey Robinson – The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited - “Trapped in Silence”
Carl Wint Award for Best Feature Story (Electronic)
Brian Lewis, Kemar Taylor, Ivan Shaw - Television Jamaica - Untimely Demise of Reggae Girl
Best Radio Feature/Documentary Award
Dadrian Gordon - Radio Jamaica 94FM - Tears of Sadness
Best TV Feature/Documentary Award
Dionne Jackson-Miller – Television Jamaica
Ken Dawson Award for Videography
Nigel Austin - Nationwide News Network (NNN) - The Sprint Capital of the World Jamaica
Junior Dowie Award for Sports Photography
Naphtali Junior - The Jamaica Observer
Aston Rhoden Award for News Photography
Ashley Anglin - The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited
Errol Harvey Award for Human Interest Photography
Garfield Robinson - The Jamaica Observer
Morris Cargill Award for Opinion Journalism
Kalilah Reynolds, Sashell Williams and Israel Ramsey - Money Media - Jamaica Budget 2024 Pieces
Best Breaking News Coverage Award
TVJ News - Television Jamaica - ‘Vybz Kartel the Timeline to Freedom’
Award for Excellence in Reporting on the Environment
Dionne Jackson-Miller and the All Angles Team - Television Jamaica - Hotter Than Hot: Climate Departure in Kingston
UNICEF Award for Excellence in Reporting on Children’s Rights
Sheryl Johnson Hamilton - Jamaica Information Service
Award for Excellence in Reporting on Health and Wellness
Giovanni R. Dennis, Dionne Jackson-Miller, Jelani Campbell, Ivan Shaw, Milton Reid, Victor Johnson, Rueben Nunes, Paul Davis, and Domonic Porter - Television Jamaica - All Angles Investigates Noise Pollution
Award for Excellence in Reporting on Agriculture
Camille Barrett - Television Jamaica - Coconut Legacy
Fosrich Award for Excellence in Reporting on Technology
Romardo Lyons, Glenford Campbell, and Uton West - Television Jamaica
Carlton Alexander Award for Business Journalism
Giovanni Dennis - Television Jamaica
Hugh Crosskill/Raymond Sharpe Award for Sports (Electronic)
Jerome Foster - Television Jamaica
Hugh Crosskill/Raymond Sharpe Award for Sports (Print)
Ruddy Allen - Jamaica Observer Media Group
Hector Bernard/Theodore Sealy Award for News Journalism (Electronic)
Giovanni Dennis - Television Jamaica
Hector Bernard/Theodore Sealy Award for News Journalism (Print)
Jovan Johnson - The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited
President’s Award for Investigative Journalism
Shemala Pullen, Omar Samuels, Richard Brown, Christopher Plummer, and Garnett Beckford - Television Jamaica - Life Interrupted, the Cancer Epidemic in Jamaica
Young Journalist of the Year Award
Ramon Gordon - CVM Television