Nicaraguan sports journalist Miguel Mendoza informed, this Thursday, July 20, that it will receive a Special Mention in the Maria Moors Cabot Awardsfrom the Columbia University School of Journalism, New York.
“This morning I receive the great news that “El Jurado Cabot” has selected me as the recipient of the 2023 Special Mention for “his commitment to report the truth in the face of the attacks in his country of origin Nicaragua,” the former exile and political exile wrote on his Twitter account.
Related news: Miguel Mendoza is reunited with his family in Miami after 684 days apart
Mendoza said to Article 66 feel moved “because it is a recognition of my work as a journalist, but also as a member of the independent journalism of Nicaragua, of which I feel very proud to belong and fight to overthrow the censorship of the regime -of Daniel Ortega-“.
He pointed out that for doing journalism and fighting for freedom of expression he is being given that recognition “which is an honor for me. This is a very prestigious award within world journalism.
“(…) I told them – to the jury – that for me it was surreal because for less than six months I was in a cell, with no right to anything, subjected, convicted, in the middle of an irregular trial, and now I am free, resuming my career as a journalist,” Mendoza expressed emotionally.
The Special Mention 2023, Mendoza is dedicated first of all to God “who has set me free, he alone took me out of El Chipote, then to my family, who suffered so much, my daughter, Alejandra, Margin -his wife- who never abandoned me (…), to my brothers, to my mother and also to independent journalism, the team to which I belong”, he listed.
Mendoza among prestigious journalists to receive the distinction
Mendoza, like the journalist Nayeli Roldan, from Animal Político, in Mexico, will receive the Special Mention on October 18, during an award ceremony at the Columbia Library.
As for the winners of the 2023 María Moors Cabot Awards and who will receive the gold medal, they are June Carolyn Erlickfrom the magazine, The Harvard Review of Latin America; Joshua Goodmanfrom The Associated Press; Carlos Eduardo Huertasfrom the Connectas research platform and Alejandra Xanicfrom Quinto Elemento Lab.
The Maria Moors Cabot Award is the oldest international recognition in journalism. Since 1938 the awards have been administered by the School of Journalism at Columbia University, New York.
Related news: Miguel Mendoza returns to sports coverage a month after his exile
There have been three Nicaraguans to win the prestigious award, firstly the journalists Pedro Joaquin Chamorro Cardenal (1977), Carlos Fernando Chamorro (2010) and the cartoonist Pedro Molina (2019).
Miguel Mendoza was kidnapped for 597 days in the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, known as “El Nuevo Chipote”, in Managua, sentenced to nine years in prison for the alleged crimes of conspiracy to undermine the national integrity and spread of fake news. On February 9 of this year, he was exiled from Nicaragua and stripped of his nationality, along with 221 former political prisoners.
