The Francisco de Cossío Awards for Journalism gala took place this Thursday to pay vibrant tribute to José María Ayala, who was a delegate of the ABC in Castilla y León for five years and died last October. … after a serious illness. Halfway through the ceremony, chaired by the head of the Regional Executive, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, a video was projected with images of the journalist to recall his professional career and his dedication to a media to which he devoted himself until the last moment.
His way of approaching the profession, his rigor above all and his precision in writing were recalled by his colleagues at ABC Castilla y León, who praised his ability to “search for the exact word, the most precise and the one that does not disturb, always in the service of the truth”.
As a sign of this recognition, Mañueco offered a bouquet of flowers to José María Ayala’s mother and her companion, who thanked, on behalf of the family, the expressions of affection that the auditorium of the Miguel Delibes Cultural Center, in Valladolid, summed up with loud and prolonged applause. “He left very quickly and without warning,” he would say later, to deplore the “emptiness” he left behind him.
During the Gala, the Francisco de Cossío Journalism Awards were presented in their 39th edition. The Zamoran Lucie Méndez Prada received the career path award. In the digital modality, the prize was awarded to José Ángel Gallego, from Tribuna Valladolid, for the “Rural Television Series”, while the image of César Julio Manso Arroyo, “Procession of Christ of the Good Death. La Semana Santa de Zamora’ won the photography category. In the press, all of Alicia Calvo’s reports on mental health, published in “El Mundo de Castilla y León”, received awards; On the radio, the winner was Raúl Rodríguez for “More than one Castilla y León de Valencia”. How are the Castilians and Leonese after Dana’, broadcast on Onda Cero; and on television, the prize was awarded to the documentary “Killing the President”, by Mónica Murciego for RTVCyL.
To close the event, the President of the Council addressed a few words to the public in which he congratulated the winners of this 39th edition, one by one and starting with Méndez, whom he hailed as a “reference”. He praised them all for their journalistic virtues, such as their sensitivity to social issues or their concern to “show reality” in their multiple themes and formats. “You represent real journalism like no one else,” he stressed. “I thank all of you who believe that journalism matters a lot,” he told reporters, asserting that press freedom “can only be defended by telling the truth.”
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