By: E&P Staff The Al Dia Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Al Dia newspaper in Philadelphia announced Thursday the creation of the Felix Varela y Morales Annual Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism with cash awards of as much as $10,000.
The awards, honoring a Cuban-born Catholic priest who founded America's first Spanish-language newspaper in Philadelphia 183 years ago, is believed to be the largest cash award for U.S. Spanish-language journalism in the nation.
In its first year, the contest will choose winners in just two categories: Hispanic Print Journalism and Hispanic Digital Journalism. Each category winner will receive a $10,000 prize each.
The awards jury includes Jorge Castaneda, the foreign relations secretary in the Mexican government of President Vicente Fox; New York Daily News columnist Albor Ruiz; and Zita Arocha, the former executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists who is now associate director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communications Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"Hispanic print has been contributing to the national dialogue, ever since 1824, when Father Felix Varela y Morales founded the first known Spanish-language newspaper in the East Coast, in the City of Philadelphia," Al Dia Publisher Hernan Guaracao said in announcing the award in Washington, D.C. Thursday.
Spanish-language journalism, he added, "must be finally recognized for its excellence, as any other, important as its essential role is in bringing Americans together and building pride for what American Democracy, in general, and American journalism, in particular, still represents in the free world today.
Entries for the award will be accepted from Oct, 12, 2007, until June 30, 2008. The awards will be presented in a ceremony held sometime during Hispanic Heritage Month 2008, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
"Full details will be made available soon online through an official web site of the Felix Varela Awards of the Al Dia Foundation," the foundation said.
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