The Inter-American Society (SIP) decided that in 2024 the organization’s highest award, the Grand Prize for Press Freedom, will be given to those Journalists and media outlets of the Americas who are forced to emigrate due to violence, threats and persecution from both organized crime and state actors in “authoritarian governments.”
According to the SIP, this recognition seeks to highlight the work of journalists and media outlets in extreme risk circumstances in several Latin American countries.
“This distinction highlights the intrinsic value of free and independent journalism, and underscores the crucial importance of protecting and supporting journalists who, despite persecution and exile, continue their work,” the IAPA said in a statement.
Announcing the awarding of the IAPA’s highest honor, the organization’s president, Roberto Rock, said that honoring exiled journalists and media outlets sends a “powerful message” about the right to freedom of the press and the fundamental role that the media plays in preserving democracy and the fundamental freedoms of citizens.
According to the SIP president, this year’s recognition “highlights the resilience and sacrifice of those who have been forced to leave their homes, risking everything to keep the international community informed.”
The regional organization’s Executive Committee and the Awards Committee will present the award during the 80th SIP General Assembly, to be held from October 17 to 20 in Córdoba, Argentina.
Countries with the greatest repression of the press
In two years, the region has experienced a growing and sustained increase in situations affecting press freedom, from extreme environments such as Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, to others where the risks for journalists have also been increasing, such as in Guatemala and Ecuador, among others, according to the IAPA.
Some independent media outlets in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba have managed to continue their work from exile, with the difficulties that this poses for their organizational structures, according to the regional organization’s investigations, “because they are victims of systematic persecution.”
The regional organization assured -when awarding this year’s recognition- that in the case of Nicaragua, the SIP has paid special attention to displaced and exiled journalists by creating a subcommittee on Journalism in Exile, chaired by Juan Lorenzo Holmann, general manager of the newspaper. The Press from Nicaragua.
At the same time, the regional organization has worked on the input for the special report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, in addition to making efforts to support a network of journalists in exile who survive in precarious conditions after being forced to migrate within and outside their countries in order to protect their safety.
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