The investigative team at Mexican digital news site Aristegui Noticias has taken home yet another prize. The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) has announced the team as one of the winners of the 2016 Knight International Journalism Awards.
The award “recognizes excellent reporting that has had major impact” and is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, according to an ICFJ press release. [Editor’s note: The Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas has been funded in part by the Knight Foundation.]
The press release mentioned the team’s “Casa Blanca” (White House) investigation, published in November 2014, in which it “uncovered a conflict of interest involving the Mexican first lady’s purchase of a $7 million home on credit from a government contractor,” according to the award. Journalists Rafael Cabrera, Daniel Lizárraga, Sebastián Barragán, Irving Huerta and Aristegui worked on the investigation. The award announcement also highlighted Aristegui Noticias' work on the Panama Papers investigation.
Well-known Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui created Aristegui Noticias in 2012. As explained by ICFJ, among its reports, the news outlet “has targeted pedophilia in the priesthood and a prostitution network operating in an office of the ruling party."
Journalist Miranda Patrucic, who is based in Sarajevo, was also recognized with the Knight International Journalism Award this year.
“These investigative journalists have changed the world by revealing shady deals involving top officials,” ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan said of the winners, according to a press release.
The team who worked on the Casa Blanca investigation also has taken home the Gabriel García Márquez Journalism Award in the coverage category (2015), the Latin American Investigative Journalism Prize (2015) and the Mexican National Journalism Award for investigative journalism (2014).
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.
