Animal Político, Univisión, David Armengou, Marcela Miret and Soledad Gallego-Díaz win the Ortega y Gasset Awards for Journalism 2018

An investigation into the siphoning off of public funds in Mexico, the success story of an undocumented immigrant chef in the United States, a photo of the victims of Barcelona terror attacks and the journalist Soledad Gallego Díaz are the winners of this year’s prestigious awards

An investigation into the misuse of public funds by Mexican state bodies and private organizations, the success story of an undocumented immigrant chef in the United States and a photo of the victims of Barcelona terror attacks are the winners of the Ortega y Gasset Awards for Journalism 2018. The prestigious awards go to Miriam Castillo, Nayeli Roldán and Manuel Ureste, journalists at Animal Político; Inger Díaz Barriga, from Univisión Noticias; and the photographers David Armengou and Marcela Miret, respectively. Also honored this year is the journalist Soledad Gallego-Díaz, who has won the prize for Lifetime Achievement.

The winning entry in the category of Best Report or Investigative Journalism has gone to La estafa maestra, (The Master Scam), published in Animal Político. Together with the organization Mexicanos contra la Corrupción y Impunidad (MCCI), a group of journalists led by Miriam Castillo, Nayeli Roldán and Manuel Ureste unraveled and brought to light a system of 128 ghost companies through which the federal government funelled more than 400 million dollars. This mass corruption involves state ministries and entities, universities and private companies.

The project was coordinated by Daniel Moreno, chief editor of Animal Político, and Salvador Camarena, director of Investigative Journalism at the MCCI. Animal Politico is an independent digital media outlet, set up seven years ago, focused on investigating corruption, human rights issues and violence.

The jury praised "the value and depth of the investigation, conducted over nine months in six different states, and which reveals the sophisticated mechanisms of corruption in the country." The jury also highlighted the importance of the collaboration with MCCI, which was key to the project’s success and which signals a new era in journalism and civil society in Mexico.

The prize for Best Multimedia Coverage has gone to the podcast Mejor vete, Cristina, published by Univisión Noticias in Miami. The podcast features journalist Inger Díaz Barriga who traces the path followed by the Mexican chef Cristina Martínez as an undocumented immigrant after she left her children behind to seek a better life. Today her restaurant is considered one of the best in the United States – but she has still not been able to reunite with her children.

The jury paid tribute to a "story that is magnificently presented by the narrator, full of subtlety and delicacy, and which deals, from a personal perspective, with universal issues such as immigration, abuse, sexual harassment and precarious or illegal employment."

In the Photojournalism category the winners are David Armengou and Marcela Miret. The photographers were behind one of the most widely distributed images of the terror attacks of August 17 in Barcelona: a man beside a child lying on the Ramblas. The jury hailed the image as "a great example of photojournalism: it reflects the violence and pain caused by terrorism and, at the same time, humanity and solidarity, reflected in the figure of the tourist who stays by the side of the child".

The Lifetime Achievement award goes to Soledad Gallego-Díaz. Correspondent in Brussels, Paris, London, Buenos Aires and New York, as well as Readers’ Editor, she has collaborated with EL PAÍS for almost four decades, newspaper where she has served as deputy editor-in-chief and where she continues to write weekly.

The jury for this year’s awards was chaired by the judge Baltasar Garzón, and made up of: the Country Manager of Google Spain, Fuencisla Clemares; the journalist Jon Sistiaga, the photographer Ouka Leele; the singer Rozalén; the writer Almudena Grandes; Juan Luis Cebrián, chairman of EL PAÍS; Antonio Caño, editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS; Javier Moreno, director of the UAM-EL PAÍS School of Journalism; and Joaquín Estefanía and Jesús Ceberio, former editors of EL PAÍS. Pedro Zuazua, chief communications officer of Prisa Noticias, was jury secretary, without voting rights.

The Ortega y Gasset Prizes for Journalism were created in 1984 by the newspaper El País, and are named after the Spanish philosopher and journalist José Ortega y Gasset. The prizes honor work published in Spanish-language media worldwide, recognizing, in particular, work that champions freedom, independence and rigor: in short all the hallmarks of excellent journalism.

Each award is worth 15,000 euros in prize money and is accompanied by a commemorative sculpture by Eduardo Chillida.The awards are open to written or graphic work published in Spanish-language media worldwide.

The awards will be presented on Wednesday, May 7 at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. 

Source: EL PAÍS