15 August 2014

The IAPA honors Andiarios with the Grand Prize for Press Freedom

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MIAMI, Florida (August 14, 2014)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today announced the winners of the prizes that the organization awards annually to promote excellence in journalism and the defense of freedom of expression in the Americas. This year the IAPA Grand Prize for Press Freedom went to Andiarios, the Colombian Association of Newspaper and News Media Editors and Publishers, for its generous and supportive attitude of sending newsprint to support Venezuelan newspapers. The information was provided by Francisco Miró Quesada, of El Comercio, Lima, Peru, chairman of the Awards Committee.
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IAPA announces 2013-2014 awards for excellence in journalism in the Americas. Journalists and media excel in Brazil. MIAMI, Florida (August 15, 2014)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today announced the winners of the prizes that the organization awards annually to promote excellence in journalism and the defense of freedom of expression in the Americas. This year the IAPA Grand Prize for Press Freedom went to Andiarios, the Colombian Association of Newspaper and News Media Editors and Publishers, for its generous and supportive attitude of sending newsprint to support Venezuelan newspapers. The information was provided by Francisco Miró Quesada, of El Comercio, Lima, Peru, chairman of the Awards Committee. The Committee selected the winners in 12 categories, whose awards will be presented during the IAPA’s 70th General Assembly in Santiago, Chile, which will be held October 17-21 at the Hotel W. This year Andiarios organized the dispatch of newsprint to Venezuela to enable newspaper companies there to continue printing their publications despite a newsprint “embargo” imposed by the Nicolás Maduro government. At the same time Andiarios staged an editorial campaign “We Are All Venezuela: Without Press Freedom There Is No Democracy”, and offered free-of-charge space in the Colombian press so that Venezuelan journalists could publish their news. Many media outlets followed the leadership of Andiarios. Newspapers in Mexico (El Universal); Peru (El Comercio); Chile (El Mercurio); Costa Rica (La Nación); Ecuador (El Comercio); Brazil (O Globo);  Argentina, (La Nación); Puerto Rico (El Nuevo Día); Uruguay (El País) and United States (Diario Las Américas), among others, also joined in denouncing the newsprint blocade. Other partners were Grupo de Diarios América, GDA, and Periódicos Asociados Latinoamericanos PAL. Each participating newspaper published a page of information about the situation in Venezuela between March 6 and May 3 of this year. Andiarios gesture is a clear demonstration of the value of solidarity among media companies that have the freedom of press and expression as a supreme value. The IAPA on making the announcement reported that the decision was taken by consensus of its Executive Committee. “Each year at this time there is enormous anticipation for the announcement of the winners of awards and honorable mentions. That is indicative of the interest and relevance of the IAPA’s contest, as it highlights the best of journalism of the Americas,” Miró Quesada stated. The awards consist of $2,000 in cash and plaques and diplomas. “Incidentally in the next edition, the call for which will open on November 15,” Miró Quesada noted that, “there will be a new competition category. It is Reporting on the Environment. The Panama newspaper La Prensa will be sponsoring the corresponding award. We do hope that there will be many entries on this subject.” Following are the categories and names of the winners of  awards and honorable mentions:

1.IAPA’s Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Inter-American Relations Award

(Sponsored by La Prensa, Managua, Nicaragua). Esteban Israel, Reuters, Brazil, for the article “Tras espionaje, América Latina busca desenchufarse de EEUU” (After spying Latin American seeks to unplug itself from the US). The author presents an excellent analysis of the impact of the spying scandal by the United States’ National Security Agency regarding Latin America, and its negative consequences on the relationships with Latin American governments. The article is based on rigorous sources and is written elegantly and creatively.

2.IAPA’s Human Rights and Service to the Community Award

(Sponsored by Panamá-América, Panama City, Panama; El Comercio, Lima, Peru; Organización Publicitaria, S.A., San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and La Nación, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Maristela Machado Crispim, Alex Costa Oliviera, Antonio Melquíades Júnior, Carlos Felipe Araújo Goes, Eduardo Soares Queiroz, Fernando Antonio Furtado Maia, Francisco Cid Barbosa Ferreira, Maria Iracema Moreira Sales, Diario do Nordeste, Brazil, for her series of reports “Excluidos” (Excluded). The series denounces the situation of afro-Brazilian ethnicities known as quilombolas, indigenous people and gypsies. Written with passion and very well documented, it challenges the systematic abuse by the authorities and companies of the ancestral customs of these ethnic groups, anxious to defend their culture and the environment in which they are a part. IAPA’s Newspaper In Education Award (Sponsored by Novedades de Quintana Roo, Mexico, and El Diario de Hoy, San Salvador, El Salvador). Clara Tamayo Palacio and the Press School team of El Colombiano, Colombia, for the project Press-School The newspaper has carried out commendable work over two decades to bring together students, teachers and heads of families through classes, training and schools for parents. The program has contributed greatly to the promotion of reading skills and is currently seeking new ways to do so in the light of the revolution in communications. The adjudication panel also decided to give an Honorable Mention to Edny Nolesky González Petit and to Press School team of El Carabobeño, Venezuela, for its Press-School project.

4.IAPA’s Opinion Award

(Sponsored by El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile). Diego Macera Poli, Poder, Peru, for the work “El beneficio de ser radical” (The Benefit of Being Radical) The commentary – dedicated to the issue of ideological polarization within the United States Congress – is an in-depth analysis of the effects of this phenomenon on American society which harms the democratic system. It has a readable and clear style supported by several reliable sources.

5.    IAPA’s News Coverage Award

(Sponsored by El Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela, and O Estado de S. Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil). Juliana Sofía de Carvalho, Catia Seabra, Dimmi Amora, Flavio Ferreira, Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil, for the series of reports “Fora dos trilhos: as revelacões do cartel ferroviãrio no Brazil” (Off The Rails: The Revelations on the Railroad Cartel in Brazil) The series stands out for its detailed work of documentation that exposed the fraudulent scheme of multinational companies in Brazil’s rail sector. Also worthy of mention is the social repercussion of the denunciation. The Adjudication Panel also decided to give an Honorable Mention to the team of El Nacional, Venezuela, (Adriana Rivera, David González, Fabiola Zerpa, Celina Carquéz, Franz Von Bergen and María Victoria Fermin) for the series of articles on the 2013 elections in the country.

6.    IAPA’s In-Depth Reporting Award

(Sponsored by The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida). Rodrigo Luis Freitas, Douglas Magno de Oliveira Martins, O Tempo, Brazil, for the series of reports “A transposição do descaso e do abandono no sertão” (The Transposition of the Lack of Attention and of the Abandonment of the Interior) The series is a excellent work of investigation, added to which are a strong images and solid arguments. The authors traveled for more than two weeks to 18 cities in four states. The series of reports denounces the embezzlement of public funds and as a result the helplessness of thousands of residents of northeast Brazil. Work on the diversion of the waters of the San Francisco River is more than two years behind schedule and at least 3.5 billion reals over budget. The Adjudication Panel also decided to give an Honorable Mention to the team of the Gazeta do Povo, Brazil (made up of Bruna Maestri Walter, Rogerio Galindo, Rosana Félix, José Marcos Lopes, Robson Vilalba and Osvalter Urbinati) for its investigative work on the lack of punishment of crimes in Paraná state.

7.    IAPA’s Features Award

(Sponsored by El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador, and McClatchy Newspapers, Sacramento, California). Carlos Eduardo Acuña Ramírez, Revista Emeequis, Mexico, for his feature “Enamorada de las manos de otro” (In Love With Someone Else’s Hands) The feature recounts in a masterly and original manner the daily battle of a person not to abandon the list of 50 persons involved in a double arm transplant. It also shows us the long and complicated medical, social and psychological process involving the receiver, the donor’s family, and medical personnel, among others.

8.    IAPA’s Photography Award

(Sponsored by The Washington Post Company, Washington, D.C., and ABC Color, Asunción, Paraguay). Simone Dalmasso, Plaza Pública, Guatemala City, Guatemala, for her series on the consequence of the civil war in Guatemala In dealing with the issue of the consequences of the civil war in Guatemala, especially in the forgotten mountain communities, the writer does so in a delicate and eloquent manner, of undoubted journalistic value. The Adjudication Panel also decided to give an Honorable Mention to Sebastián Castañeda Vita, Somos magazine, Peru, for his series on civil wars in Syria and Lebanon.

9.    IAPA’s Cartoon Award

(Sponsored by El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia). Pablo Guillermo Bernasconi, La Nación, Argentina, for his caricature of Nelson Mandela Outstanding is the beauty and journalistic strength through which the writer interprets the African leader’s personality. Intelligence, culture and tenderness are manifested in the artist and journalist’s strokes. The Adjudication Panel also decided to give a Special Prize to Ecuadorean cartoonist Xavier Bonilla (Bonil) of the Guayaquil, Ecuador, newspaper El Universo for his journalistic and artistic work devoted to the defense of freedom of the press and of expression amid government pressures and threats.

10.  IAPA’s Infographics Award

(Sponsored by Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Andrés Azócar, Macarena Lescornez, Hugo Infante, Víctor Abarca, Paula Tala, Jesús Pérez, Francisco Capone, Freddy Vásquez, Israel Muñoz, Pablo Gándara y Juan Carlos Cortés, La Tercera, Chile for the  infographic “40 years after the coup d’état in Chile”. The work excels for its high artistic and journalistic level. The writers used historic audio and video testimonies and numerous illustrations of great quality. The result is a document of enormous impact and visual strength.

11. IAPA’s News Coverage on Internet Award

Alejandra Gutiérrez Valdizán, Enrique Naveda, Sandra Sebastián, Simone Dalmasso, Sebastián Escalón, Oswaldo José Hernández, Gerardo del Valle, Dennys Mejía, Nora Pérez, Martín Rodríguez Pellecer, Daniel Villatoro, Carolina Gamazo and Rodrigo Baires Quezada, Plaza Pública, Guatemala, for coverage of the issue of violations of human rights during the government of dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. The coverage has a profusion of details and depth of information, and uses a direct and clear narrative style; all this is obtained through several multimedia tools. In the end the reader can have a valuable experience of immersion in this controversial case.

12. IAPA’s Alejandro Miró Quesada Garland Multimedia Coverage Award

(Sponsored by El Comercio, Lima, Peru) Marcelo Leite, Dimmi Amora, Morris Kachani, Lalo de Almeida, Rodrigo Machado, Fábio Marra, Mario Kanno, Pilker, Rubens Alencar, Lucas Zimmermann, Simon Ducroquet, Douglas Lambert, Demétrius Daffara, Melina Cardoso and Marcelo Soares, Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil, for the special “Tudo sobre a batalha de Belo Monte” (All About the Battle of Belo Monte) on the construction of Brazil’s biggest hydro-electric work. The Adjudication Panel pointed out the magnificent use of multiple formats (texts, infographics, videos, animations and programming effects). Directing the experience of the user is impeccable, and the abundant information is presented in an intelligent and attractive manner. IAPA Awards Committee Chairman: Francisco Miró Quesada El Comercio Lima, Perú Vice chairman: Carlos Salinas El Diario de Coahuila Saltillo, México Members: Armando Castilla, Vanguardia, Saltillo, México; Ascanio Seleme, O Globo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Bruce B. Brugmann, San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco, Estados Unidos; David Adams, Reuters, Miami, Estados Unidos; Eduardo Quirós, La Estrella de Panamá, Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá; Ernesto Kraiselburd, El Día, La Plata, Argentina; Iary Gómez Quesada, Diario Extra, San José, Costa Rica Isabel Sicherle, El País, Madrid, Spain; Iván García, Frecuencia Latina, Lima, Perú; Jaime Ruiz Moreno, Novedades de Campeche, Campeche, México; Paola Hernández, Diario Extra, San José, Costa Rica; Rodrigo Conti, Diario Crónica, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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