…Marleni Cuellar and Isani Cayetano, award winning journalists

As I mentioned, the team of Isani Cayetano and Chris Mangar walked away with the award for Best News Feature for their story entitled ‘Support Continues to Flow for Decriminalization of Marijuana Possession.’ That story looked at the introduction of a proposal to decriminalize marijuana and the team explored all the angles from the courtroom to the streets. This is Isani Cayetano’s third award from the CBU.

Isani Cayetano, Award-Winning Journalist

Isani Cayetano

“To be quite honest with you I am elated and overjoyed. First of all I would like to acknowledge my cameraman Chris Mangar. Without him, half of what we have done together as a team would not be possible. The amount of work that I put in in terms of the technical and literary part of the story and what he brings visually and technically as well is what brings everything together to actually have something worthwhile to submit. Last year, I would like to think around this time there was a move to have an ongoing discussion regarding the decriminalization of marijuana and I recall interviewing several people throughout the course of one week with regards to their position on the matter. However, at the end of that week I thought, you know what, let me remove this argument from it being among the legal minds and let me take it to the grassroots level…the everyday person who consumes and smokes marijuana. So I went to my brother-in law first and foremost and I pitched the idea to him and within a half hour or so he gathered some of his friends and we were just sitting around and between Chris and I we started envisioning and vibing and coming up with the best approach that we could present both a legal/technical argument as well as highlight the position of these young men who smoke marijuana. So that’s what we did. This is my third award. Every year it’s something different, a new challenge. But I think what stands out about the story is the fact that it is relatable across the whole region and across the world.”

At the C.B.U. AGM, Miss Shida Bolai (Bo-lie) of the Caribbean Communications Network was elected as the new president of the organization, succeeding Vic Fernandes.  Our C.E.O., Amalia Mai, was reelected for a two year term to the CBU Board. CBU, as a regional organization, promotes broadcast content among radio and television networks in the Caribbean, including Cuba.