(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an excerpt of a 28 July 2006 IAPA press release: IAPA announces winners of 2006 journalism awards MIAMI, Florida (July 28, 2006) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today announced that it is awarding its Grand Prize for Press Freedom for 2006 to a disappeared Mexican journalist, Alfredo Jiménez […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is an excerpt of a 28 July 2006 IAPA press release:
IAPA announces winners of 2006 journalism awards
MIAMI, Florida (July 28, 2006) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today announced that it is awarding its Grand Prize for Press Freedom for 2006 to a disappeared Mexican journalist, Alfredo Jiménez Mota from the Hermosillo daily newspaper El Imparcial. The award will be presented to his family members in October.
As a consequence of publication in April 2005 of the series “Mafia in Sonora State,” in which he exposed links between drug traffickers and local police, Jiménez Mota was kidnapped and his whereabouts remain unknown since then. The series was not only a testimony to major, high-quality reporting but also reflects the social commitment and personal courage of its author, the IAPA said.
Recently, more than 100 publications throughout Mexico and the Southwest United States simultaneously published a report on Jiménez Mota’s disappearance.
“The drug traffickers have been the leading factor in the murder of journalists in the recent history of Mexico,” declared Gustavo Mohme of the Lima, Peru, newspaper La República, co-chairman of the IAPA’s Awards Committee. “By giving the award for Jiménez Mota’s work as a journalist and his moral values, we are defending freedom of the press and honoring his courage.”
The Awards Committee also selected winners in another nine categories. The awards are to be presented during the IAPA’s 62nd General Assembly, to be held in Mexico City September 29 to October 2. They consist of a cash prize of $2,000 and plaques and diplomas.
“We are delighted – we received hundreds of entries of the highest quality,” said Awards Committee Co-Chairman José Santiago Healy, of the Diario San Diego newspaper, San Diego, California. “Every year the IAPA awards gain in prestige and reflect the important role played by the press in the Americas.”
For further information on the categories and the names of the winners, see:
http://www.sipiapa.com/pressreleases/chronologicaldetail.cfm?PressReleaseID=1708
