ImpreMedia Called 'Best and Most Influential' Hispanic Media Company

By: E&P Staff ImpreMedia has won the 2008 Cambio 16 award for being "the best and most influential Hispanic media company in the U.S."

The award was presented to impreMedia Chairman and CEO John Paton in New York by Manuel Dominguez Moreno, the director and editor in chief of Grupo EIG, which publishes the influential Spanish newsweekly Cambio 16. Paton was named Publisher of the Year by E&P earlier this year.

ImpreMedia "serves as the primary news and information touchstone for millions of Latinos living in the United States, and provides critical information on issues that affect all aspects of their lives," Dominguez said in presenting the award. ImpreMedia is the publisher of the dailies El Diario La Prensa in New York City and La Opinion in Los Angeles.

With the award, Cambio 16 annually recognizes achievements in politics, the arts, business and media both in Spain and internationally.

This year, for example, President Barack Obama was named as the Person of the Year. Its International prize went to Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian presidential candidate who was kidnapped and held for more than six years by the rebels known as FARC.

"On behalf of our employees, I am extremely honored to accept this award from Cambio 16," Paton said in a statement. "To have our journalistic work recognized by such a prestigious organization is very gratifying."