The Voice of Guanacaste won honorable mention in Culture Ministry’s 2018 Pio Viquez National Awards.
The judges said our newspaper publishes “high quality stories on regional and national importance with critical, disruptive angles,” adding that “it’s worth mentioning their technique and data mining as well as graphic design and photography.”
For Maria Fernanda Cruz, editor-in-chief of The Voice of Guanacaste the award “recognizes that quality, regional media outlets exist in Costa Rica that are interested in and know their communities and give them the value and voice they deserve. It’s a democratic opportunity that we can’t let pass us by.”
“In our newsroom, each person’s work is incomplete without the others. That’s why it’s nice to see that not only our journalism was recognized, but our designs and photos as well because that content is very important to the way we tell stories.”
The Culture Ministry also awarded two other honorable mentions, one to La Nacion journalist Gustavo Arias for his project ‘Don’t be Fooled’ and to journalist Natalia Diaz for her coverage of various issues, including environmental and human rights.
The winner in journalism was our partner newspaper Semanario Universidad and journalist José Eduardo Mora Mora. The award ceremony will be on May 28 in the national theatre.
Other Awards
This isn’t the first time that The Voice of Guanacaste has been recognized for its journalism.
In August, our story The Secret Files of Papagayo was chosen as the only finalist from Costa Rica for the excellence in journalism award from the Inter-American Press Association, which choses and recognizes the best stories of the continent every year.
In August 2017, our newspaper took second place in social innovation category at the Viva Schmidheiny Awards. This award is granted to social entrepreneurs who have a visible impact in the region.
In November last year, the Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce gave an honorable mention to the best news story about corporate social responsibility. “Guanacaste’s Forgotten Trash” was written in partnership with journalism program Punto y Aparte.
In February 2017, our investigation Can the Solis Government Quench Guanacaste’s Thirst won Telefónica’s Etecom Latin America award, which has been given out to students in the region for six years.
In 2016, AmCham also awarded an investigation by The Voice of Guanacaste and The Tico Times that showed how a large part of water licenses along the Tempisque River didn’t have environmental impact studies.
Costa Rica’s Professional Association of Journalists also recognized in 2016 its “valuable contribution to society for presenting the information in a different, original and impactful way.”
Comments