Outstanding members of the Bahamian press will be awarded for their contributions to the profession, as the Bahamas Press Club prepares for the major event which will take place later this year.

 President of the Press Club, Anthony Newbold in a recent press conference, said this is the first time members of the press will be recognized on a large scale.

 Veteran Journalist and committee member Jessica Robertson noted that the media plays such an integral role in society, and she admonished all journalists to take advantage of this opportunity.

 The awardees will be recognized at a Gala banquet in November.

 According to President Newbold, there will be about 15 categories of awards; and all submissions for these awards will primarily come from the media houses, which will be forwarded to the awards committee.

 This year’s awards will be the second of its kind, but according the Mr. Newbold, the aim this year and beyond, is to raise the standard of honouring top journalists.

 All awards will be named in honour of pioneers in the field.

 The lifetime achievement award, which is the highest award will be named in honour of Etienne Dupuch.

 Other awards include the Eric Wilmot Award, for investigative journalism, Harcourt Rusty Bethel Award, for Radio Journalism, Leon Turnquest Award, for Sports Print Journalism, among numerous others.

 The panel of judges include, Sir Arthur Foulkes, His Excellency Mike Smith, Jessica Robertson, Eric Ward, Antoine Frerea, Julian Anderson and Valdez Ferguson.

 The awards banquet will be held on November 19.