They spent decades informing citizens through impactful photographs, informative newscasts and thought-provoking articles.
On Republic Day, media veterans Andrea De Silva, Omatie Lyder, Ria Taitt and Jai Parasram were honoured at the 2026 National Awards with the Chaconia Medal (Silver).
Ms Lyder and Ms Taitt were honoured for their decades of service to the media, covering major events in this country’s history while rising through the ranks and later mentoring younger journalists who follow in their footsteps today.
With 35 years of experience as a photojournalist, Ms De Silva has captured stories for a local and international audience, while also serving as Reuters’ official photographer in Trinidad and Tobago since 2007.
“When I started doing photography 42 years ago, it was out of my passion for photography. I always liked it as a child but never expected to do it as a profession.”
However, she admits the job has not always been safe or easy. She recalled an incident where she was being prevented from doing her job.
“I had experiences where there was an explosion in one of the bases, and I had to go to the hospital to take some photographs. But of course they were trying to prevent us from taking pictures. One of the security officers, I took pictures; I got some shots. One of the security officers wanted to take my film because at that time we were using film. So what I did was I switched. I switched the film and gave him a roll that was not, I took the roll out and held my roll and put an empty roll in there. So by the time he got that roll, there was nothing in it.”
The lone male awardee among the four journalists was Jai Parasram, who began his journey at TTT.
“It’s a difficult thing to say. I feel great, I feel honoured. I’ve never had something like this in Trinidad, so it’s the first. I started right at TTT back in February 1972, and I spent about 25 years in Canada with Canadian broadcasting in a senior editorial position, so I’ve seen and done everything in TV news and current affairs.”
Mr Parasram said he was happy to see other journalists awarded for their hard work.
Pioneer broadcaster and musician Sadruddin “Sadro” Mohammed was posthumously awarded the Humming Bird Medal (Gold) for his contributions to the media and music.