RSSOn Friday, October 16, 2009, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) and The Newspaper Guild-CWA will present the inaugural bestowal of the Charles A. Perlik Jr. Award for Excellence in the Field of Print Journalism Throughout Latin America, to Mr. Alejandro Santos Rubino, director of Semana Magazine.
The Charles A. Perlik, Jr. Award was created to honor the memory of the late Council on Hemispheric Affairs chairman, who also served as president of the Newspaper Guild. Mr. Perlik was a dedicated advocate for journalistic integrity, equality of opportunity, and freedom of the press throughout the hemisphere. He was the longest-serving president of the Newspaper Guild, a media union that currently has over 34,000 U.S. and Canadian members. Mr. Perlik became chairman of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in 1982. In keeping with the legacy of Chuck Perlik and his deep concern for the right of journalists to practice their profession unencumbered by threats or acts of intimidation, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs and The Newspaper Guild-CWA honor the courageous and distinguished professionalism in journalism so prominently demonstrated by Semana.
COHA commends Mr. Santos and the management, editors, and staff of Semana which, since its founding in 1982, has been devoted to promoting justice, democratic rule and constructive engagement among members of civil society in Colombia and throughout the hemisphere. The award will be accepted by Mr. Santos, the current director of Semana and a highly regarded, award-winning Colombian journalist. Under the leadership of Mr. Santos, Semana has helped shape the profile of Colombian society and its political life, as well as strengthen the nation’s ethical backbone, during a particularly turbulent period in his nation’s history. An impartial and high-minded voice in the vociferously political nation, Semana has consistently published groundbreaking exposés on the sometimes murky, sometimes laudable workings of the Colombian government.
The award ceremony will be held Friday, October 16 at 10 a.m. in the conference room of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs office, located at 1250 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. The awards ceremony will last approximately an hour, followed by a reception.
We hope you will attend this event in honor of Semana and Mr. Santos on Friday, at 10 A.M.
Although I cannot be there, please allow me to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the fine journalists and editors of Semana for remaining committed to the true principles and examples of journalism. As a U.S. citizen, I greatly appreciate your daring contribution to understanding the situations your citizens face — for your coverage of DAS alone, you should be worldwide heroes of journalism for decades.
I added your blog to bookmarks. And i’ll read your articles more often!
Yes, I would like to join this appreciation expressed above! As living in Germany I can't be with you at the event either.
May I share a just atmost topical issue for the international campaign for the release of the Cuban Five with you? – On October 13, there had been the first hearing for the resentencing of 3 of them in Miami, the one for Antonio Guerrero. In a former article your were so kind as to mention the case by breaking the silence around it launched by the mainstream medias. In his comment Larry Birns referred especially to the judge, Joan Lenard, having exposed their first exhorbitant and unjustified sentences. Please, dear ladies and gentlemen, be so kind again to inform your readers about the new development of the case.