New Award to Honor Murdered Journalists in Latin America

A new award honoring murdered journalists has been announced by the Latin American Council of Social Sciences.

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The Miroslava Breach Prize, named after a murdered Mexican journalist, is a tribute to those "who die every year in Latin America, doing their work and fighting against mafias, corrupt governments, drug trafficking and the alliances that are established between them."

Miroslava Breach was killed on March 23 in the Mexican city of Chihuahua. The 54-year-old senior correspondent for La Jornada was shot multiple times outside her home, where murderers had reportedly left a sinister message: with the words “por lengüona,” meaning “big-mouth.”

She is one of the dozens of journalists murdered in Mexico, and Latin America, this year.

The award has been created by the Journal Arguments of the Autonomous Metropolitan University, the Faculty of Culture and Communication at the Metropolitan University for Education and Work, along with the newspapers La Jornada; Pagina 12, from Argentina; and Publico, from Spain.

The prize is “intended to call attention to the impunity that reigns in the journalistic field," where murders are seldom investigated, leaving "the state an accomplice …. in the brutal violence”, said a statement publlished by the Latin American Council.

Journalists, communicators, researchers and activists from all over Latin America and the Caribbean are eligible, especially those who report on violence against the media, drug trafficking in Mexico, as well as censorship and other attacks on freedom of speech.

Applicants are invited to submit their documents by December 27 to the following email addresses: arguments@correo.xoc.uam.mx or argument.correo@gmail.com.