The reach of local journalism is almost never limited. Often, a focus on what is closest transcends this approach and generates interest and influence that is often overlooked or unnoticed. The stories that touch us, but that capture wide attention, are those that were awarded in the XL edition of the Andalusian Journalism Awards, presented this Friday at the San Telmo Palace, seat of the Autonomous Government. During the event, the President of the Council, Juan Manuel Moreno, brandished a spear in favor of the “ethical commitment” which distinguishes authentic journalism from the information disseminated by pseudomedia.
“We live in a time where messages reach us from everywhere and everywhere; where it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the truth and the lie, between the one and the information”, underlined Moreno, to reflect on how, faced with this avalanche of information, citizens “are satisfied with the first ones that reach them, or those that they have at hand. Because it is precisely the easiest to digest in terms of information”. The Andalusian president warned of how this situation of hyperinformation makes us more vulnerable, because we are unable to distinguish “what is important from what is incidental, useful information from useless information.”
New technologies have become fertile ground for disinformation and, faced with this reality, the popular leader advocated a return to the essence of good journalism, which involves stories prepared and published by the media and good journalists. “Before this current technological explosion, information was produced in specialized centers, which are means of communication, and by qualified personnel, who are journalists,” declared the president, to emphasize: “Now, anyone can play journalist, but without the criteria, without the ethical commitment to which real journalists are subject.”
“I break the spear in favor of the profession of journalism, of true journalism, the rigorous, the reliable, the one that gives correct figures and writes exact words,” Moreno said. A rigor and ethical commitment that Moreno highlighted in all the winners, local stories of national importance. Like the interview with Morante de la Puebla, which the journalist Jesús Bayort published on ABC and which was recognized as the best work of the written press. In this document, the right-hander from La Puebla del Río abandons all modesty and reveals his fight against his mental health problems and his influence in the face of the fight and his life; or like the portal Mucho Deporte.com which has become the information reference for both Sevillian football clubs and Andalusian sports and which has received a special mention for its career throughout its 25 years of existence.
The religiosity of Holy Week in Malaga appeared in the pages of The Guardian, The Times or National Geographic thanks to the camera of Daniel Pérez García-Santos, winner of the International Projection Prize. And another image of a global icon, the Alhambra plunged into darkness during the great blackout, captured by EL PAÍS collaborating photographer Alejandro Cámara, received the Best Photography award.
The commitment to proximity as a flag is the essence of the Canal Sur program, Andalucía Directo, a formula with which it surpassed Jordi Hurtado as the one with the most broadcasts, more than 7,000, which was rewarded with the prize in the television category. Canal Sur also won the award in the radio category for the podcast produced by Antonio Salvador, Parot, the man without a soul, which recreates the arrest 35 years ago on the outskirts of Seville of the ETA terrorist when he was loaded with explosives to attack the National Police headquarters in the Plaza de la Gavidia, in the heart of the Andalusian capital. Andalusian Public Radio and Television also won the award for best infographic.
Journalist Carlos Herrera was recognized for his entire career. Moreno emphasized that the communicator is an “ambassador of the talent of our land” and that he “From there, not only what happens in Spain, but what happens in the world. »
The jury, chaired by the Deputy Minister of the Presidency, Tomás Burgos, was composed of Eduardo Barba, editor-in-chief of ABC of Seville. Inmaculada Jiménez, editor-in-chief of Cope Andalucía. Carmen Torres, director of information services at Canal Sur Televisión; Alejandro Ruesga, photographer for El País.; journalist Teresa Puig; Sebastián Torres, Director General of Communication of the Government of Andalusia and Jorge Conde, Head of the Ministry’s Information Planning and Coordination Service
About The Author
