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King Felipe VI of Spain has shown today his support about the validity of professional journalism, a job on which he declared to have “a strong trust”, because journalists provide a “needed, unreplaceable, fundamental role in any democratic society which is aware of its rights and freedoms'.

Felipe VI chaired the ceremony for the award of the King of Spain International Journalism Prizes and of the Don Quixote Prize, which this year acknowledge the works of the Spanish-Peruvian Nobel literature prize-winner Mr. Mario Vargas-Llosa and of professionals from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Portugal, and Uruguay, which deal about personal experiences and human dramas based on exploitation and poverty.

Organized every year by the Spanish state-owned news agency AGENCIA EFE and by the department of the Deputy Secretary for International Cooperation and for Latin America, with the sponsorship of the international construction and concessionaire group OHL, the 33rd King of Spain International Journalism Prizes have been awarded at the Casa del Lector in Madrid together with the 12th Don Quixote Prize, which is sponsored by the state-owned TRAGSA company.

'I believe firmly in your profession”, said Mr. Felipe to the journalists in his closing speech, in which he praised its “important social function at the service of the citizens”, as it provides them “in a rigorous way, information and clues” for a better understanding of what is happening in the world.

He also stressed the “capability to adapt” of journalism to the new challenges raised by technologies, adding: 'If a new communication medium, channel, or tool were to emerge, there is no doubt that you journalists will be able to find how to make the best use of it for professional purposes”.

Felipe VI confessed that he is proud that the prizes awarded today bear the name “King of Spain”, which allows him to highlight “the strong commitment of the Crown with Journalism and, at the same time, with the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking worlds'.

Exponents of the best journalism

The King praised the award-winning journalists, 'acknowledged exponents of the best journalism in Spanish and in Portuguese in all of the world', whose work has been distinguished with prizes which prove the “exceedingly high level of Latin American journalism in all of its areas and in all of its media”.

The acting Vice President of the Spanish Government, Ms. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, and the acting Deputy Secretary for International Cooperation, Mr. Jesús Gracia, attended this event, together with the Chairman of the Spanish state-owned news agency AGENCIA EFE, Mr. José Antonio Vera, at which was present also the Spanish Ombudsman, Ms. Soledad Becerril, and representatives from Culture, Politics, Business, and the Diplomatic Corps.

In his speech, Mr. Vera called on 'the greatness of the job of informing” and on the close correlation which exists between the appreciation given to free information and the quality of the Democracy, against a “certain disregard” in some quarters for the work carried out by professional journalists, when, without their work, “Society would be much more vulnerable'.

He also demanded “the independence of the communication media and the freedom of journalists”, before warning that “true Journalism, cannot be a slave of power, but neither can it be, in a strict sense, a new power”, because “it is equally undesirable” that the Media are under the control of “external organizations and groups” and that they perform functions which are alien to their task.

It is within this framework of 'institutional respect and independence' that EFE has based “its professional record in the world” since it opened in 1966 its first delegation in Buenos Aires (Argentina), until, as of today, it has achieved that almost half of the news items from the news agencies in Latin America bear its signature, according to Mr. Vera.

EFE’s Chairman equally highlighted the contribution of the news agency to turning Spain into a “strategic power” in the world in such areas as politics, the economy, and the culture.

For his part, Mr. Gracia highlighted the value of the journalistic work and of the freedom to inform, which “must be carried out with impartiality, truthfulness, rigor, without encouraging hate, violence, without sectarianism, and even looking for national reconciliation, in some cases'.

'We see the reality through our journalists” and “their role as transmitters of truthful and independent information, sometimes denouncing certain facts or situations, is indispensable for progressing in Democracy and in the achievement of more social peace”, warned the acting Deputy Secretary.

This award-giving ceremony constitutes, in his opinion, “an excellent opportunity” for remembering about the Spanish-speaking and the Portuguese-speaking professionals who were victims of “attacks against their freedom” and also for paying homage to the foreign journalists who are still kidnapped,

The prize-winners

The academic and Literature Nobel Prize Mario Vargas Llosa received from the King’s hands the Prize Don Quixote in this 12th series of this prize for the article 'Cusco en el tiempo', on which he reflects on the racial mixing and on the use of the language by the inhabitants of this city, to which he returns after years of absence, and which he finds changed and improved.

The Latin American Journalism Prize went to the Spaniard Carlos Herrera as the author of the article 'Zabludovsky', which was published on the daily ABC and which is dedicated to the memory of the teacher of the TV professionals in Mexico.

In the Press category, the winner was the Portuguese Catarina Gomes for the report 'Quem é o filho que António deixou na guerra', about the children which the Portuguese former combatants had with African women during the colonial war, and also a honorific mention was awarded to the Argentinian Javier Hernán Drovetto for 'Preso de cuerpo, libre de mente'.

The Uruguayan Jerónimo Giorgi Boero, who won the prize for Digital Journalism, shows in 'Connecting Africa' how is taking place the technological development of this continent, while the Brazilian Márcia Foletto won the prize for Photography for her image in her series 'Os miseráveis', in which two children are displayed making their homework in a favela, oblivious to the poverty which surrounds them.

The TV documentary 'Kalungas: as eternas escravas', about female sexual exploitation, deserved the TV prize for the Brazilian team led by Marcelo Magalhaes, while the prize for Radio went to the Bolivians Abdel Padilla and José Luis Mendoza for their radio program 'Feminicidio y violencia contra la mujer en Bolivia'.

The Colombians Santiago Cárdenas and Manuel Saldarriaga won also the prize for Environmental Journalism, which is sponsored by the Fundación Aquae, for their report, published on the elcolombiano.com 'Mercurio, un monstruo dormido en Antioquía', which shows the hardship of the work of the miners and the danger poised to their health and to those who eat fish from polluted rivers.

The award-granting ceremony closed with the acting of a string quartet of Fundación Excelentia, which played two celebrated bossa nova songs: 'Manhã de Carnaval', of Luiz Bonfá, very popular thanks to its featuring in the movie 'Orfeo Negro', and 'Garota de Ipanema', of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, this one with the performance of a couple of dancers.

The Don Quixote Prize is endowed with a 9,000 € prize, while the remaining prizes bestow 6,000€ each to the winner, besides of a bronze sculpture by Joaquín Vaquero Turcios.

Photo: King Felipe VI poses beside the Vice President of Fundación AQUAE, Mr. Josep Bagué (first row, to the left), the Chairman of Agencia EFE, Mr. José Antonio Vera (first row, second to the left), the acting Vice President of the Spanish government, Ms. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría (first row, third to the left), the Deputy Secretary for Cooperation, Mr. Jesús Gracia (first row, second to the right), the former CEO of OHL, Mr. Juan Miguel Villar Mir (first row, second to the right), the Chairman of Grupo TRAGSA, Mr. Miguel Giménez de Córdoba (first row, right), and the prize winners of the 13th series of the King of Spain international journalism prizes. EFEPhoto:

AGENCIA EFE and Grupo SEPI

AGENCIA EFE belongs to Grupo SEPI, a corporate holding which includes a total of 16 state-owned companies in which it has direct, majority shareholding participations, with a workforce of around 73,000 professionals in 2014; the Spanish state-owned television and radio corporation, Corporación Radiotelevisión Española, which is attached to SEPI, and one public foundation. Equally, SEPI has direct minority shareholdings in a further ten companies, and indirect shareholdings in more than one hundred companies.