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Eloy O. Aguilar
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President George Rupp and Journalism School Dean Tom Goldstein presented the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes to four journalists for excellence in reporting on Latin America, in a black-tie ceremony held in Low Rotunda. Now in their 62nd year, the Cabot Prizes recognize achievement and honor coverage that demonstrates compassion and commitment to freedom of the press and inter-American understanding.
The prizes were awarded to Eloy O. Aguilar, Mexico bureau chief of The Associated Press; Paul Knox, international affairs reporter for The Globe and Mail, Toronto; Ricardo Uceda, chief of the investigative unit for El Comercio, Lima, Peru's leading daily newspaper, and Lloyd Williams, senior associate editor, The Gleaner newspapers, Kingston, Jamaica. In addition, a special citation was awarded to Francisco Santos, a columnist who lives in exile and writes for El Tiempo, Colombia's leading newspaper.
The evening marked the first collaboration between several of Latin America's major media forces. The Miami Herald's Alberto Ibargüen served as benefit chairman with Gustavo A. Cisneros, chairman and CEO, Cisneros Group of Companies. Ernestina Hererra de Noble, president of Groupo Clarin, was honorary chairman, along with George Irish of Hearst Newspapers. For the second year, the award ceremony was held as a benefit to raise money for scholarships for international students.
"The journalists who have won this year's Maria Moors Cabot Awards have placed themselves at risk to bear witness," said President George Rupp. "Time and again, they have refused to take the easy way out. They have chosen to go to the countryside and the slums, to capture the realities of the minorities, the excluded, and the marginalized."
Goldstein noted, "We here at the Journalism School have deep respect for the meaning behind the Cabot Awards. In recent years we have been able to incorporate more of the original Cabot vision into our own programs, by increasing the number of students from Latin America, and starting to create a network of Pan-American reporters, editors, and educators."
The prizes, the oldest international awards in journalism, are awarded by the Trustees of Columbia on the recommendation of the dean of the Journalism School. An advisory committee of journalists and educators concerned with hemisphere affairs assists the dean. Nominations are also sought from news organizations and individuals throughout Latin and North America. The director of the prizes is Anne Nelson, who is also director of the International Division of the Journalism School and former executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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