MIAMI, Florida (March 17, 2011)—“I want to sing in praise of those who are no longer here,” reads the opening verse of one of the 22 songs performed in the contest held by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA). The objective of the contest, held across social networks, was to raise awareness of the violence against the press and the impunity surrounding hundreds of crimes committed against journalists in recent years.
Named “Lend Your Voice to the Voiceless,” the contest had the important support of famed music producer Emilio Estefan and generated intense interest on social networks, where the IAPA today released the names of the 22 finalists who will compete for the song that is expected to become the anthem against impunity.
The finalists’ entries – among which are catchy protest songs that range from hip-hop to rap, pop, ballads and tango, among others – can be heard and downloaded at http://www.donatuvoz.com/esp/concurso.html and/or accessed at www.impunidad.com.
The finalists were selected from among more than 150 entries “donated” by amateur artists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Greece, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. The pre-selection of finalists included the number of votes that the entrants received on the Web site www.donatuvoz.com.
The inspiring lyrics of some entries reflect the passion behind the contest focus – impunity –which was created, produced and directed by the Miami-based firm Firefly.
· “It is prohibited to prohibit, more than prohibited to kill … it is not prohibited to silence,” declares Laura Vargas of Uruguay
· “I sing for the life that has ended, but I’ll show you how to defend an ideal,” says soloist Juliana Castro of Argentina.
· “I would like to sing a hymn to those who are no longer here,” chant Leonardo Lozano and his group from Colombia.
· “I sing for the one who can no longer speak because a murdering bullet has silenced his voice,” declares Armando Elonga of Equatorial Guinea.
· “They are the voices of silence, they are the voices of the love that leads to hope … that change destiny, that change hearts,” sings Fabiano Portugal of the United States.
A special panel of judges composed of record company executives, academics, journalists, and human rights and press freedom activists, will select the top three winners in the performance category. A second category will award lyrics-only entries. First prizewinners will receive cash awards and the best song will be professionally produced. As a result of the enthusiasm generated by the contest, the IAPA now plans to produce a CD with the interpretations that best inspire the battle against impunity.
The contest, begun in early November, aroused the curiosity of more than 250,000 people throughout the Americas and in Poland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, the Philippines, Holland, Estonia, Kazakhstan and Cyprus. Finalists received the support of more than 57,000 votes from thousands of Internet users, who had to register to do so.
The chairman of the IAPA’s Impunity Committee, Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, president of the Mexico City, Mexico, newspaper El Universal, declared, “This innovative experiment with the social networks has encouraged us to continue using various fronts in our fight for justice in cases of crimes against journalists and on behalf of freedom of the press.”
For his part, IAPA President Gonzalo Marroquín, president of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, newspaper Siglo XXI, said, “It is a matter of pride for our organization that hundreds of thousands of people have joined in and shown solidarity with our anti-impunity campaign, just at the same time we have declared this the Year of Freedom of Expression in the Western Hemisphere.”
Both Marroquín and Ealy Ortiz congratulated the finalists and predicted that “given the significant amount of talent that we have witnessed, the jury will have a difficult task in selecting the winners.”
The winners will be announced early next month, during the IAPA’s Midyear Meeting which will be held in San Diego, California, April 6-9. Some interpreters will be invited to the Hemisphere Conference on Impunity that the IAPA is to hold with universities throughout the Americas in Puebla, Mexico, August 25-26 this year.
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. The IAPA Impunity Project is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and has the mission of combating violence against journalists and lessening the impunity surrounding the majority of such crimes. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org; http://www.impunidad.com
