Soledad Gallego-Díaz wins the APM press award

The Press Association of Madrid (APM) today announced the winners of the Journalism Awards 2011, with one of the prizes going to Soledad Gallego-Díaz, EL PAÍS journalist, in recognition of her lifelong career. Fran Llorente, director of the news at TVE, also won the award for his "outstanding commitment" to the profession.

Gallego-Diaz said she was was especially pleased that her professional colleagues had also been honored. The veteran journalist began her career at age 18 at the agency Pyresa before joining the magazine Cuadernos para el Dialogo, where she remained until the magazine ceased publishing. She joined EL PAÍS immediately after it was founded in 1976 as a political contributor. Over the years she has worked as parliamentary reporter and political correspondent in Brussels, London, Paris, New York and Buenos Aires. She has also been deputy editor and readers’ editor. Looking back on all her years in the profession, Gallego-Díaz highlights "the radical changes that have occurred in recent years, some positive and some harder to get used to".

The awards jury, comprising the Board of the APM, has also honored Juan Pablo Colmenarejo, director of news services at radio network COPE, Daniel Campos, head of the legal news at the Servimedia news agency, and the Telemadrid program Madrileños por el mundo. The awards ceremony will be held will in June at the headquarters of the Madrid regional government. The #gratisnotrabajo movement, which arose on Twitter after a journalist reported a job that offered $ 0.75 per article, received a Special Mention "on behalf of all young people who are struggling to practice their profession with dignity and a decent wage".