In a ceremony held at Miraflores Palace, the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, presented the prestigious 2024 “Simón Bolívar” National Journalism Award, accompanied by the Minister of People’s Power for Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, and the Minister for Culture, Ernesto Villegas.
As part of this event, the head of state recognized the work of the country’s social communicators in various areas, including print journalism, radio, opinion, television, social networks, community, digital, graphic design, among other journalistic fields.
This way, this edition was awarded the Special Prize in recognition of Julián Assange, for his actions claiming brave journalism without fear in the era of truth as the essence of defending freedom of expression and the right of people to be informed, a statuette that was received by Desirée Santos Amaral and Mercedes Chacín.
Another of those awarded for practicing excellence in journalism was journalist Rosita Caldera, who received the Simón Bolívar Unique Journalism Award for her outstanding career in professional practice and in compliance with the doctrine and ethical principles of defense as a standard. essential in good journalism.
In this sense, Caldera expressed that the reporting exercise must be ethical and responsible: “Journalism was born to be an instrument of reporting, to negotiate respect and peace between the peoples of the world, but it was also born for combat. Celebrating journalist’s day in Venezuela means defending our patriotic and anti-colonial principles, which Simón Bolívar left us when he founded the Correo del Orinoco, which began circulating on Saturday, June 27, 1816.»
Therefore, the “Simón Bolívar” National Journalism Award celebrates the tireless work of those who report, question and explore the truth for the benefit of Venezuelan society.
Award-winning journalists
In the Cultural Journalism category, the program “Guia Cultural” (Cultural Guide) broadcast by Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) was worthy of the award, while journalist Barry Cartaya took the award for his creativity on TikTok.
Likewise, the Radio Urimare Community Foundation received the statuette in the Alternative Community category. In the Printed category, Mercedes Chacín, Francis Zambrano and Ricardo Romero, a team from the Ciudad Caracas media. The special mention in the Radio category went to Alejandro Silva for YVKE Mundial. For its part, the book “The Hidden Message, Contributions to Critical Reception in the Media”, by Judith Lizeth González, stood out in the Teaching and Research section.
Also, journalist Ángel González, for his innovation through the “El Informante” newsletter of the Últimas Noticias newspaper, was recognized in Digital Journalism. Román Camacho, who practices event journalism with social commitment on Instagram, received the award in the Digital Media category. The award was also awarded to journalists Ricardo Scarone and Humberto Castillo, for the documentary report “In Search of the Truth. Canserbero Case.”
The journalist and photojournalist Federico Ríos, known for his work on the Armed Conflict, received the award in Documentary Photography. In the Research category, the winner was Maryluz Vallejo, who is the author of several books on the history of the press and Colombian political history.
In the Television category, the 2024 National Journalism Award was awarded to Luis Guillermo García, for the program “El mundo desde el Sur”, broadcast through TeleSur, while Antonio Núñez Aldarozo was awarded in the field of journalism of opinion, for his column in the “Últimas Noticias” newspaper.
