Miami (August 28, 2024) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) announced today the winners of the Awards for Excellence in Journalism 2024 in the 12 categories, along with 17 honorable mentions recognizing works of journalism from the Americas and Spain.
"The IAPA Awards Committee is impressed by the exceptional quality of the nominations received this year. We are proud of the valuable contribution of these journalists and media outlets that provide significant input to public knowledge, to the vitality of democracy and to the well-being of our societies," said María Lorente, chair of the IAPA Awards Committee and regional director for Latin America of Agence France Presse (AFP).
The list of award winners includes work by native digital media and the case of a Nicaraguan journalist arbitrarily stripped of his nationality.
A work by Agence France Presse received the "Claudio Paolillo Journalism on Migration" award. This is the first time that the IAPA has given an award in this category. Semanario Vanguardia of Mexico received the award in the Solutions Journalism category, which is also the first time it has been awarded in this annual competition.
The ceremony of the IAPA Awards for Excellence in Journalism will take place during the 80th General Assembly of the IAPA, October 17-20 in Cordoba, Argentina. The awards consist of a diploma of recognition and, for the most part, a stipend of US$2,000.
The IAPA will announce this week the winner of the Grand Press Freedom Award and the winners of the Executive of the Year, Great Friend of the Press, Sustainability and Digital Transformation categories.
The winning entries in the 12 categories are:
CARTOON AND ILLUSTRATION AWARD, sponsored by El Tiempo, Colombia. "Droga Plaga Zombi", Ezequiel Omar García, Rolling Stone. For illustrating with originality and high aesthetic sense the current scourge of drugs -a sensitive and complex subject- inspired by the classic painting of Pieter Brueghel the Elder (The Triumph of Death); a work that has cultural connotations and reveals great imagination.
Honorable Mention: "Libertad de Prensa", Raúl Fernando Zuleta, El Espectador, Colombia.
NEWS COVERAGE OF CURRENT EVENTS AWARD, sponsored by Infobae. "Estradas de papel", Metrópoles Newsroom, Brazil. For denouncing, with a profusion of data, the disastrous use of public funds in Brazil through the public company Codevasf; the exhaustive three-month investigation revealed cases of embezzlement and corruption extending from the government of Jair Bolsonaro to that of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Honorable Mention: "#Narcofiles: Capítulo Fiscalía (Mancera-Barbosa)", Cuestión Pública Newsroom, Colombia.
MIGRATION JOURNALISM "CLAUDIO PAOLILLO," sponsored by La Silla Rota, Mexico. "No hay nada imposible. La odisea de un migrante de Venezuela a EE.UU.", Agence France Presse Newsroom. For addressing, with mastery in the handling of journalistic resources, such a current topic. The work shows the human side of the Venezuelan catastrophe, which impacts all Latin America. It includes significant complementary material.
Honorable Mentions: "El universo en movimiento", Ojo Público Newsroom, Peru, and "Darién el infierno de la migración", Duván Álvarez De las salas, El Tiempo, Colombia.
"ALEJANDRO MIRÓ QUESADA GARLAND" INTERVIEW AWARD, sponsored by El Comercio, Peru. "Tragedia de los Andes", La Nación Newsroom, Argentina. For shedding new light on the 1972 plane crash of the Uruguayan rugby players. The testimonies of Fernando Parrado and Adolfo Strauch are deep stories that raise the eternal conflict of men in extreme situations and where questions and answers impact for their sincerity and harshness.
Honorable Mention: "Un representante me explotó laboralmente, quería hacerme creer que era débil por ser mujer (entrevista a la soprano Nadine Sierra)", Ismael Monzón Tomé, El Español, Spain.
CHRONICLE AWARD, sponsored by Debate Media, Mexico. "Lo bebés del Darién", José E. Guarnizo Álvarez, Vorágine, Colombia. For revealing, with precision, the tragedy of migrants, accompanied by children and babies, who cross the Darién to reach the United States. The feature, with its high literary quality and communicative capacity, highlights the extreme vulnerability of children, many of whom do not survive the journey.
Honorable Mentions: "Delirio extremes: la epidemia invisible de crack en Honduras", Juan José Martínez d'Abuisson, Dromómanos, Mexico, and "Sobrevivir al nadir", Luisa Paulina Salomón Ochoa, Prodavinci, Venezuela.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO AWARD, sponsored by La Prensa Gráfica, El Salvador. "China: The superpower of seafood", The Outlaw Ocean Project c/o Ian Urbina, United States. For denouncing, through a high quality cinematic and newsworthy mini documentary, the human rights violations linked to China's fishing fleet and the global seafood industry. For four years, the team of journalists traveled to dozens of countries and oceans to support their hard-hitting investigation.
Honorable Mentions: "¿Quién tira lo cajones? Las impactantes imágenes de la contaminación en las playas patagónicas y la maniobra que la genera", La Nación Newsroom, Argentina, and "Yaku Raymi: El ritual quechua para salvar un glaciar," Mullu TV y Mongabay Latam, Perú.
SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM AWARD, sponsored by Carlos Freire Foundation. "Reforestación con dron: el proyecto piloto que busca revivir la Sierra de Arteaga", Jesús Peña, Semanario Vanguardia, Mexico. For describing, through a superb narrative and suitable visual resources, how the peasant community in the state of Coahuila participates in the search for alternatives to solve problems, in this case, the use of technology for environmental conservation.
Honorable Mention: "Para que no arda el bosque. Tradición e innovación en la prevención de incendios forestales", Lily R. Mayers, Paulo Nunes dos Santos, Mikel Konate, Sonda Internacional, Spain.
OPINION AWARD, sponsored by El Mercurio, Chile. "Hace un año me despojaron de mi nacionalidad nicaragüense", Wilfredo Ernesto Miranda Aburto, El País, Spain. For presenting, with clarity and solid arguments, the eloquent testimony of someone who has been illegally stripped of his nationality by Daniel Ortega's regime and condemned to exile, as well as its harmful consequences on the family and personal level.
Honorable Mention: "Protestas en Perú: los patrones de las masacres", Rodrigo Salazar Zimmermann, Ojo Público, Peru.
DATA JOURNALISM AND INFOGRAPHY AWARD, sponsored by Grupo de Comunicaciones Corripio, Dominican Republic. "Panorama das favelas de Sao Paulo", Agência Mural Newsroom, Brazil. For contextualizing, through an appropriate combination of text, photos and graphics, the terrible reality of the favelas of São Paulo. The use of reliable sources and effective visual representation provide an educational and enriching perspective that goes beyond the common stereotypes on the subject.
Honorable Mentions: "La Argentina, en 10 datos claves", Ignacio Ferreiro, Chequeado, Argentina, and "Irse para no volver", El Tiempo Newsroom, Colombia.
IN-DEPTH JOURNALISM AWARD, sponsored by La República, Peru. "What is NarcoFiles: The New Criminal Order? Everything you need to know," The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación Periodística (CLIP), and 40 global outlets. For describing, through an impressive investigation, the underworld of production, logistics, commercialization and money laundering from the illegal circuit. A magnificent example of collaborative work, supported by advanced techniques of analysis, field work and diversity of documentary sources, verification, data cross-checking and transnational collaboration.
Honorable Mention: "Patrimonio en Ruinas", Carmen García Bermejo, Thelma Gómez Durán and Ignacio Rodríguez Reyna, El Quinto Elemento, Mexico.
ROBERTO EISENMANN JR. ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM AWARD, sponsored by La Prensa, Panama. "Cobertura de asesinatos y amenazas contra activistas ambientales", Paul Tuesta, Luis Enrique Pérez, Leandro Amaya, Convoca, Peru. For denouncing, through a convincing argument, supported by recent studies and data, the impunity of assassinations, assaults and threats against Peruvian environmentalists who have opposed deforestation in the Amazon for years. It contains important complementary material.
Honorable Mention: "La fiebre del oro se ensaña con el Madidi", Karen Gil, Revista Digital La Brava, Bolivia.
UNIVERSITY JOURNALISM AWARD, sponsored by the Latin American Council for Accreditation of Journalism and Communications (CLAEP). "Vamos falar de morte", Bárbara da Cunha Niedermeyer, Humanista, Brazil. For examining, with journalistic rigor and excellent narrative, death and the rights of terminally ill patients in Brazil, a subject little covered in the media. A sensitive and human portrait based on reliable sources and complemented with recent data and interviews.
Honorable Mentions: "Los Ailes: Vivir entre la basura de la Ciudad de México", Eduardo Cordero Molina, Corriente Alterna, Mexico, and "El guaguazo o píldoras anticonceptivas fallidas", Macarena Cerda, El penquista Ilustrado, Chile.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
