The chairman of IAPA's Awards Committee, Marcel Granier, president of RCTV, Caracas, Venezuela, praised "the quality of the more than 1,200 submissions that competed this year from across the Americas, which demonstrates the strength of news media that are illuminating problems and helping our communities to be better." He added, "Our adjudication panel had serious difficulties in selecting the best among the best."
These are the winners of the top prizes and honorable mentions in the 14 categories of the 2019 Excellence in Journalism Prizes including the Press Freedom Grand Prize winner that was announced yesterday:
PRESS FREEDOM GRAND PRIZE:
Award: Jineth Bedoya Lima, Colombian journalist.
For her courage, integrity, leadership and investigative quality in favor of freedom of the press and the public's right to be informed. In its recognition, the IAPA highlights the work of women journalists who are exposed to risks, stigmatization and censorship.
Cartoon: (Award sponsored by El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia)
Award: Darío Castillejos, ''High Risk Job," El Imparcial de Oaxaca, Mexico
Reasoning: The challenges facing the exercise of freedom of expression in places where journalism is a high-risk activity, such as Mexico
Honorable Mention: Salvador del Toro, "Donald Trump," El Economista, Mexico
Topic: Trade war between U.S. and China.
News Coverage On the Internet: (Award sponsored by TV Venezuela, Miami, USA.)
Award: Dora Luz Romero, Moisés Martínez, Yubelka Mendoza, Isela Baltodano, Julio Estrada, Cindy Fuller, Mario Rueda, Engell Vega, "Protests in Nicaragua: Live Coverage," La Prensa, Nicaragua
Reasoning: Valiant and exhaustive live coverage of 2018 protests and cruel repression by the government of Daniel Ortega, in Managua and across the country.
News Coverage: (Award sponsored by OPSA, San Pedro Sula, Honduras)
Award: Diego H. Cabot, Candela Ini, "Public Corruption," La Nación, Argentina
Reasoning: An exemplary investigation that revealed the profound and generalized corruption that took place in Argentina during the governments of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, and ensnared dozens of others.
Honorable Mention: Mary Trini Zea, "Illegal Contract Awards," La Prensa, Panama
Topic: Denunciation of irregular concessions of professional services contracts by the National Assembly of Panama.
Honorable Mention: Eva Vergara, Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press, USA
Topic: Errors of Pope Francis in addressing the crisis of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Chile.
News Coverage On Mobiles: (Award sponsored by El Comercio, Lima, Perú)
Award: Florencia Fernández Blanco, Nicolás Cassese, Mauro Rizzi, Pablo Loscri, Cristian Bertelegni, Gastón De la Llana, "Exile Memories: What Those Who Fled Venezuela Chose to Take With Them," La Nación, Argentina
Reasoning: Original reporting about the exodus of Venezuelans from their country which created a complex problem for the region.
Honorable Mention: Sérgio Spagnuolo, Tai Nalon, Bernardo Moura, Ana Rita Cunha, Bárbara Libório, Luiz Fernando Menezes, Alexandre Aragão, Judite Cypreste, "Election Coverage," Aos Fatos, Brazil.
Topic: Election coverage in Brazil using the WhatsApp application
Features: (Award sponsored by El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador and McClatchy Newspapers, Sacramento, USA.)
Award: Luisa Paulina Salomón, "My Kidnapping," Prodavinci, Venezuela
Reasoning: Straightforward, taut reporting of his traumatic 2015 kidnapping in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world.
Honorable Mention: Roberto Valencia, "See, Listen to, Aggression in Chichicastenango," El Faro, El Salvador
Topic: The Mayan worldview vs. criminal gangs in El Salvador.
Human Rights: (Award sponsored by Panamá-América, Panamá y El Comercio, Perú)
Award: Sheila Manuela Martins Fernandes, Romeu Piccoli, Rodrigo Bettio, Marcio Strumiello, Gustavo Costa, Rafael Gomide, Natália Florentino, Rafael Ramos, "Piacaba: Exploration and Corruption in the Amazon," Camera Record-Record TV, Brazil
Reasoning: A vibrant, moving documentary about work-slaves in the Brazilian Amazon jungle.
Honorable Mention: Yelitza Linares, Carolina Alvarado, Ana María Carrano, Yelitza Linares, Yaya Andueza, Gabriela Goncalves, Isabela IIturriza, Juan Vicente Bruzual, Alan González, Nadeska Noriega, Johanna Osorio, Génesis Carrero, Armando Altuve, María Jesús Vallejo, Lorena Meléndez, Víctor Amaya, Giovanna Pellicani, Rossanna Batistelli, Irene Revilla, María Fernanda Rodríguez, Ruth Lara Castillo, Sheyla Urdaneta, Oriana Faoro, Alexander Olvera, Jesymar Añez, Liz Gascón, Keren Torres, Lorena Bornacelly, Marieva Fermín, Daniela Dávila, Elsy Torres, Antonio Ramón Hernández, Rayner Peña, Hirsaid Gómez, Jesús Hernández, Oscar Duque, Álvaro Hernández Angola, Carlos Landaeta, Cruz Alejandro Sojo, Elías Miranda, Nicolás Franco, Germán Dam,
"Voices of the Unprotected," El Pitazo, Runrunes, Tal Cual and others, Venezuela
Topic: Human rights violations in Venezuela
Photography: (Award sponsored by La Prensa Gráfica, El Salvador)
Award: Carlos Alberto Herrera González, "Political Crisis in Nicaragua," Confidencial, Nicaragua
Reasoning: Brilliant documentation of repression by the government of Daniel Ortega, the suffering of victims, and the valiant resistance of Nicaraguans during the 2018 protests.
Honorable Mention: Anahí Velásquez Valdez, "Bank Robbery in Hermosillo," El Imparcial, Mexico
Topic: Coverage of a bank robbery in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Infographics: (Award sponsored by Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Award: Juan Pablo Bravo, "Life and Art: Boticelli, Van Gogh, Hopper," El Mercurio, Chile
Reasoning: Original presentations of great masters in the history of art made approachable to everyman.
Honorable Mention: Carlos Javier Almeida, "Metro Train," El Telégrafo, Ecuador
Topic: Quito's Metro
Opinion: (Award sponsored by El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile)
Award: Maurício Angelo, ´´Para or duplipensar brasileiro, Roger Waters is a Threat,´´ Revistamovinup.com, Brazil
Topic: Polarization of Brazilian society
Honorable Mention: Isabela Ponce, "This Happens Every Day," GK, Ecuador
Topic: Gender Violence in Ecuador
Data Journalism: (Award sponsored by IE Business School, Madrid, España)
Award: Sara Castillejo, Ginna Morelo, Manuel Alzate, "The Search for the Disappeared," El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia
Reasoning: Admirable description using data, text and images to describe the phenomenon of the "disappeared" in Colombia and Guatemala; the impunity that surrounds this violence, and impact on families.
Honorable Mention: Yudivián Almeida Cruz, Saimi Reyes Carmona, Ernesto A. Guerra Valdés, "Power in Cuba," PostdataClub.com, Cuba
Topic: Elections, government and constitutional reform in Cuba
In-Depth Journalism: (Award sponsored by La República, Lima, Perú)
Award: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other publications, "Implant Files," USA.
Reasoning: An extensive, complex investigation involving 250 reporters in 36 countries revealed the scandal of defective medical implants. This story had worldwide impact.
Honorable Mention: Oscar Castilla, Ernesto Cabral Mejía, Jonathan Castro C., Jason Martínez V., "MoneyLeaks," Ojo Público, Peru
Topic: Denunciation of the penetration of organized crime in the national banking system of Peru.
Environmental Journalism: (Award sponsored by La Prensa, Ciudad Panamá, Panamá)
Award: Eumano Silva, Lilian Tahan, Priscilla Borges, Maria Eugênia Moreira, Olívia Meireles, Eumano Silva, Denise Costa, Michael Melo, Gilberto Alves, Gui Prímola, Stela Woo, Cícero Lopes, Gabriel Pereira, Allan Rabelo, Saulo Marques, Vinícius Paixão, "Expelling the River-dwellers,´´ Metropolis, Brazil
Reasoning: High-impact news reporting with photos, aerial shots and video interviews with property owners and residents in communities about the indiscriminate use of water in agriculture.
Honorable Mention: Priscila Cárdenas Sánchez, Puente Project, Connectas and Aristegui News, "Sonora River Report: The Omission that Cost Thousands of Lives," Mexico
Topic: Negligence of the Mexican authorities to avoid the toxic spill in the Sonora River, considered the worst disaster of the mining industry in Mexico
University Journalism: (Award sponsored by La Prensa, Managua, Nicaragua)
Award: Andrea Valentina Villamil, Nathaly Victoria Pabón Calderón, Carlos Andrés Lugo Berrio, Andrea Valentina Villamil Goenaga, "Regional Stories,'" El Punto, Colombia
Reasoning: Collection of oral histories about the habits, customs and spiritual life of residents of the department of Atlántico, Colombia
Honorable Mention: Patricia Pilar Rodríguez, "When 25 of 350 Were One," La Vida de Nos, Venezuela
Topic: Repression of students of the Simón Bolívar University, in Caracas, in 2017.
Diplomas and awards for $2,000 for the winners will be delivered at IAPA's 2019 General Assembly to be held Oct. 4-7 in Miami, Florida.
The following is the composition of the IAPA Awards Commission:
President: Marcel Granier, RCTV, Caracas, Venezuela. Vice President: Carlos Salinas, El Diario de Coahuila, Saltillo, Mexico. Members: José Manuel Acevedo, RCN News, Bogotá, Colombia; Manuel Aguilera, Hispano Post, Miami, Florida; Marco Arauz, Grupo El Comercio, Quito, Ecuador; Alejandra Brambila, Reuters, Mexico City, Mexico; Federico Brinsky, Epasa, Panama City, Panama; Marlene Carrión Luna, Edicomm, Mexico City, Mexico; Armando Castilla, Vanguardia, Saltillo, Mexico; Idania Chirinos, NTN24, Bogota, Colombia; Norberto Frigerio, Publirevistas, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Carlos Jornet, The Voice of the Interior, Córdoba, Argentina; Claudia Martínez, Bloomberg, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Osmín Martínez, Diario Las Américas, Miami, Florida; Andrea Miranda, El Debate, Sinaloa, Mexico; Silvia Miró Quesada, El Comercio, Lima, Peru; José Monegro, El Día, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Mariano Morales, Síntesis, Puebla, Mexico; Leonor Mulero, The New Day, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Marcela Noble Herrera, Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Nuria Piera, Nuria N/Digital, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Laura Puertas, Medcom, Panama City, Panama; Oswaldo Quintana, RCTV, Caracas, Venezuela; Fernando Quijano, El Colombiano, Medellin, Colombia; Arnulfo Somarriba, El Nuevo Diario, Managua, Nicaragua; Alice Ting, The New York Times, New York, New York, United States and José Zamora, Univision, Miami, Florida, United States.
The IAPA http://www.sipiapa.org 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 publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida.