FOPEA Honors Investigative Journalism in Argentina

Gustavo Sierra got the main investigative award in Argentina. Photo: FOPEA.

More than 30 journalists were honored Friday night as award-winners and finalists in Argentina’s annual investigative awards competition.

The awards were sponsored by the Argentinian Journalism Forum (FOPEA), the only member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network in that country.

The awards were announced in front of more than 250 journalists, diplomatic representatives, and members of NGOs. Now in their second year, the awards show that investigative journalism is alive and well in Argentina.

More than 70 applications were reviewed by an international panel of Carlos Eduardo Huertas (Colombia), Alana Rizzo (Brazil), and Robert Cox (England). The judges of the investigative books category were Roberto Guareschi, Héctor D’Amico, and Carlos Gabetta.

The winners and finalists were:

National Awards

Grand Prize: The top award went to Gustavo Sierra, a journalist with over 30 years of experience, including war coverage in Iraq and elsewhere. Sierra was honored for his long record of journalism and his multimedia projects.

Investigative Journalism Book: Hugo Alconada Mom for La Piñata.

Finalists: Irene Benito, Indalecio Sánchez and Fernando Stanich for A su salud, la historia de Juan Luis Manzur, el ministro más rico de la era kirchnerista (To Your Health, the Story of Juan Luis Manzur, the richest minister of the Kirchner era), and Gerardo “Tato” Young, for Código Stiuso (The Stiuso Code).

Periodismo Para Todos team, winners of the broadcasting category.

Broadcasting: Jorge Lanata and the “Periodismo Para Todos” team.

Finalists: La Cornisa TV Program (Luis Majul and team), and Hugo Macchiavelli, Ignacio Mazza, and Luciano Safdie for Radio UBA.

Print Media (National): Matías Longoni for a series of seven articles: “Granos: 25% de los permisos de exportación va a firmas dudosas” (Grains: 25% of export permits are for suspicious companies), published in Clarin newspaper.

Finalists: Enrique La Hoz Velarde for his investigations on the whereabouts of former dictatorship Jorge Videla remains (Clarin) and José Crettaz (La Nación newspaper) for reporting on fraud tied to subsidies of the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA).

Digital Media: Gustavo Sierra from Clarin.com, for his special report “La Argentina blanca” (The White Argentina), on narcotrafficking in the country.

Finalists: José Stella and Ignacio Montes de Oca (eliminandovariables.com) for the story “El Kindergate y el gran sueño argentino” (“Kindergate and the Big Argentinian Dream”), and Ricardo Montacuto (Mendoza Post) for his series “Así se enriquece un intendente” (“This Is How a Mayor Becomes Rich”).

In-depth Journalism: Irina Hauser (Anfibia Magazine) for “Los restos de la Corte” (“The Remains of the Court”).

Journalism Students: “Basural de González Catán: incumplimiento, contaminación, enfermedad y reclamo social” (“Garbage dump in González Catán: Failure to fulfill, pollution, sickness, and social demands”), by Mayra Vargas and Agustín Bertrán from Universidad Argentina de la Empresa.

Awards for Local Journalists

Main Investigative Award: Ítalo Pisani and Diego Von Sprecher (Río Negro Newspaper) for the series “Los barones de la fruta” (“The fruit barons”), about the powerful ties of union leaders.

Finalists: Adrián Pino (Entre Ríos newspaper), for the series “El dueño de la isla del Puerto” (“The Owner of Port Island”) and Federico Anzardi (Cuarto Poder Salta) for the series “El hilo se corta por lo más delgado” (“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”), on adoption.

To read the story in Spanish, check out here.