International Journalism Awards: in defense of the bravest journalism

• Interview Luz Escobar: "I pay a price to feel the price of freedom"

• Interview Alexey Kovalev: "Russian society is sick, we need an examination of conscience"

Two sentences from the speeches by Alexey Kovalev and Luz Escobar explain why these two information professionals have received the

.

"Putin's invasion of Ukraine is based on a lie, so I want to be able to say that I was among the few people who told the truth," said the Research Director of the independent Russian media

, winner of the

.

"I come from a country where there has been a systematic task of assassinating journalism, of killing this profession," argued Escobar, editor of the Cuban media

, which has received the

award .

Both were grateful and justified the need for free journalism in such troubled times.

The members of the jury praised "

in their ruling .

And both journalists did not want to miss the opportunity to do last night, at the

, at the award collection, a gala of those virtues with speeches that showed the cruelty of a war, the suffering of a dictatorship and the price they pay for reporting it.

EL MUNDO International Journalism Awards

Luz Escobar: "I pay a price to feel the price of freedom"

• Writing: DANIEL LOZANO

Luz Escobar: "I pay a price to feel the price of freedom"

Alexey Kovalev: "Russian society is sick, we need an examination of conscience"

• Writing: XAVIER COLAS

Alexey Kovalev: "Russian society is sick, we need an examination of conscience"

"On February 24 of this year my editor woke me up and said two words in Russian: 'Wake up, it's already started'. I didn't need any more explanations. We were preparing for this. But

," Kovalev began. his speech, in which he showed the price he has had to pay for reporting the truth.

"Within a week I had to emigrate, leaving my family and home behind.

as a freelance journalist: the day I crossed the Russian border, the Russian parliament passed two laws that criminalized all of our profession".

For his part, Escobar explained how the independent journalism he represents in

emerged : "It began to take shape decades ago. A phenomenon that was born in prisons, when

. a complaint through restricted phone calls or simply painted a symbol on a wall to convey an important message, circumventing surveillance".

"This independent journalism movement has also brought me here because it inspired me to tell the reality of my country, it gave me valuable examples to follow, such as that of the journalist

, convicted during the

, and that of my father ,

, expelled from his profession in 1988 when the winds of

inspired many to try to make journalism more attached to reality, with a more human face," Escobar added.

Being part of Cuban independent journalism is one of my greatest prides

light escobar

Both journalists emphasized the need for journalism that tells the truth, independent and risky journalism, in which risking one

, as in the case of Escobar, subjected to constant house arrest, is part of their work.

"It's a position I hope no one ever finds themselves in: documenting their own country's war crimes.

, because no one wants to be complicit in this, even if they know and don't. "

do anything to prevent it," said Kovalev, who described how people call him "a liar and a traitor for telling them about the terrible things his army has done in his name."

"If all my work these last eight months amounts to a single footnote in a history book, I'll be content with that. It's not happiness:

," he said.

Escobar, like Kovalev, has been proud of this work, but she also made visible not only the price she has paid, but also the price paid by her closest entourage: "Being part of independent Cuban journalism is one of my greatest pride but it has also had a high personal, family and social cost.

around my home to prevent me from leaving. There were days when I could not even attend to a meeting of parents at my daughters' school because an operation by the political police prevented me from doing so".

I hope the rest of the world never does, or this catastrophe will repeat itself again

alexey kovalev

A cost that also entails opening your eyes, looking beyond and, at the same time, covering yourself with a shell that allows you to continue living and continuing to report in the midst of so much suffering.

Thus, Kovalev recalled how "a few times a week, even before I drink coffee", he has to write subtitles for a gallery of Ukrainian photographs:

.

"I can never stop watching this. I hope the rest of the world never does, or this catastrophe will repeat itself again," he inquired.

Like Escobar, who has described the profession as an "uphill path full of dangers, but extremely rewarding." "In the midst of this scenario, this

, presented by the newspaper EL MUNDO, comes as a balm and It confirms that I was right to choose the path of the press," he concluded.

The journalists, who had been received and had previously toured the Prado Museum together with Joaquín Manso, director of EL MUNDO;

Marco Pompignoli, executive president of Unidad Editorial;

Stefania Bedogni and Nicola Speroni, general directors and directors;

Javier García Pagán, general director of the News Area;

Sergio Cobos, general director of Advertising, in addition to Miguel Falomir, director of the Prado National Museum, and the president of its board of trustees, Javier Solana.

The awards are sponsored by

,

,

,

,

and

and the collaboration of

and the Prado Museum.

Some 120 people and authorities gathered in the cloister of the Madrid art gallery, such as the president of the Constitutional Court,

;

the president of the Community of Madrid,

;

the Minister of Defense,

;

the mayor of Madrid,

;

the president of the Assembly of Madrid,

;

and the ambassadors of Italy,

, the United Kingdom,

, and France,

.

All of them had previously visited the

upon their arrival at the museum, and they had been addressed by the director of EL MUNDO, who had opened an awards ceremony that included the editor-in-chief of EL MUNDO,

, as presenter.

Manso

has been in charge of delivering the award for Best Journalistic Work 2022 to

, highlighting the work of war journalists: "His narrative intensity, his human compassion and his political intention have been the foundation of the moral conscience around the values ​​of European liberal humanism, the philosopher's stone that will defeat Vladimir Putin".

"And for Luz Escobar," continued Manso, "who pays the price of house arrest and persecution by the Castro regime

. "

Without free and responsible journalism, democracy is degraded and ends up disappearing

Isabel Diaz Ayuso

"What is the emotion that moves a journalist to give up his well-being or to expose his integrity or his own life to publish a useful and relevant truth?" Joaquín Manso then gave way to

, EL MUNDO's special envoy in the

, which has remarked that "we are facing one of those key moments in history. For the reporters of my generation,

, that war that will mark our professional future".

Díaz Ayuso

was also in charge of closing the awards ceremony with a speech in which he pointed out that the two award-winning reporters are "two examples of journalism as a fourth power and of commitment to freedom."

Thus, the president of the Community of Madrid emphasized that both "decided to assume the consequences and continue reporting. We are convinced that free journalism is more necessary than ever.

that report abuses, because this is the best antidote for those who want to impose their totalitarian ideas. Without free media this is not possible".

Ayuso also added that "we cannot get tired of defending freedom of the press because the search for the truth is the cure for totalitarianism. (...) The totalitarians begin by manipulating the language through a

without true meaning into which we end up falling if we are not alert. And as Luz Escobar claims, we must say things as they are, that the Government of Cuba is a dictatorship and a tyranny, as we do in Madrid".

At the close of the event, the president praised the capacity of the winners and insisted that "without free and responsible journalism, democracy is degraded and ends up disappearing."

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