The six categories of the King of Spain International Journalism Awards acknowledge the reporting work of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking journalists from the States that make up the Iberian-American Community of Nations and from the nations with which Spain has historical ties as well as a cultural and cooperative relationship. This year, 133 nominations from 17 countries were received.
The Awardees
The authors of the report “Fentanilo: futuro para el narco, muerte para la humanidad” [Fentanyl: the future for drugs, the death of humanity], published in the Mexican media N+, have received the Narrative Journalism Award. The team led by Víctor Emmanuel Valles Mata and Adrián Tinoco succeeded in entering, for the first time ever, into one of the Sinaloa Cartel's laboratories where the drug is produced.
In the category of International Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Jesús Martínez and Marc Javierre-Kohan, from the Spanish Media Frontera Digital, were awarded the prize for their work “J'accuse! El saqueo de la casa de Rosario” [I Accuse! The looting of Rosario's house]. The report describes the drama of an old lady who, at 98 years of age, wishes only to recover a photograph of her husband, who died half a century ago, after the police entered the house following a judicial process of eviction, which turned out to be a mistake.
The public corporation RTVE has received the Environmental Journalism Award for the report "Suelos vivos" [Living Soils] produced by Eduardo Laplaza García, Marisol Soto and Francesc Tomas. The production focuses on regenerative agriculture and how biodiversity is preserved.
Víctor Núñez Jaime, a Mexican national, received the Cultural Journalism Award for “El segundo exilio de Sergio Ramírez” [The second exile of Sergio Ramírez], a profile of the Nicaraguan writer published by the Mexican newspaper Milenio.
In the Photography category, the award went to Colombian national, Manuel Salvador Saldarriaga for “Arriesgar la vida cruzando El Tapón del Darién” [Risking life crossing the Darién Gap], a photographic series published in El Colombiano de Medellín with images of Haitians crossing this Colombian jungle on the border with Panama on their journey to reach the United States.
Finally, representatives of Cuestión Pública, an independent Colombian digital media outlet, received the Iberian-American Media Award for “abanderar el ejercicio del buen periodismo de investigación y de datos independiente” [championing the practice of good investigative journalism and independent data].