Journalists from Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay were among the winners of the King of Spain International Journalism Awards on Jan. 24 in its 34th edition, news agency EFE reported.
The awards are given by EFE and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development in the categories of press, radio, television, photography, digital journalism and environmental journalism. This year, the 13th Don Quijote Journalism Award and a new edition of the Ibero-American journalism prize were also given.
Brazilian journalist Vinicious Jorge Carneiro Sassine of daily O Globo received the award in the press category for his work on the “obstacles that the Brazilian Air Force put in place to prevent the transportation of organs destined for 153 transplants in the last three years,” EFE reported. In his story, “FAB refusals prevent transplants of 153 organs,” the journalist denounced how military aircraft were used to transport public officials and not for humanitarian work.
Carlos Loret de Mola of Mexico received the award in the television category for the program ‘Éxodo’ broadcast by Televisa. The 50-minute program addresses the Syrian refugee crisis and sought to “put a face on the thousands of displaced people,” EFE published.
“Arrival of Air Force One’ was the winning work in the photography category. The image, taken by Cuban Yander Zamora, captured the moment in which the U.S. presidential plane arrived in Havana “for the first time in history,” EFE added.
Colombian Patricia Gómez received the prize for environmental journalism and sustainable development with a report on the problems caused by lead in the northeastern part of the country and the persecution suffered by a family when reporting the poisoning of their child because of this metal. “Lead: invisible poison” was broadcast by RCN Televisión.
The Uruguayan-Spanish writer Carmen Posadas was recognized with the Ibero-American Journalism Award for her article “Dreaming in Spanish,” in which she defends the use of the language in times when the number of Spanish speakers is growing. The jury noted that in her work, she used a “fluent and concise language, illustrated with examples from both side of the Atlantic,” EFE reported.
The categories of radio and digital journalism went to Spanish journalist Jordi Basté for “Attacks in Paris” and the special team of Spanish newspaper El País for its work “40 years of 20 N: the transformation of an country,” respectively.
The Don Quijote Journalism Award that “recognizes the linguistic quality and good use of the Spanish language” was awarded to the Spanish writer and journalist Arturo Pérez-Reverte for the article “The Goths of Emperor Valente.” The story addresses of the massive arrival of immigrants and refugees in Europe, according to EFE.
The awards seek “to recognize the informative work of journalism professions in Spanish and Portuguese from the states that make up the Ibero-American Community of Nations and of nations with which Spain maintains links of a historical and cultural nature,” and have been given annually since 1983.
This year, 196 works from 21 countries were submitted on themes including current issues, social complaints and historical reports.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
