Yesterday’s award of the XXXVI. EL CORREO journalism award to Juan Cano, editor of the Sur newspaper, became a lesson in how to practice his profession in a particularly sensitive area: events. The journalist, who has been reporting this information for 21 years and is also a professor at the University of Malaga, explained the inside story of the award-winning report: “Ablaye’s wish is granted”, a story that shook the conscience. In his conversation with César Coca, who is part of the management of EL CORREO, he also addressed other cases of great importance, such as that of Dolores Vázquez and the death of little Julen, whose body was rescued after a thirteen-day search in the Totalán fountain in Malaga. “Events journalism is always on Comanche territory, in very complex scenarios and requires sensitivity,” he says.
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He works closely with the local and regional press, which he believes “makes a difference and adds quality to events” because of his local knowledge and awareness of “social responsibility”. A friend told him in July last year that at the Costa del Sol Hospital there was “a certain mobilization” in the case of Ablaye, a 59-year-old Senegalese immigrant suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension, “and if nobody fixes it, he will die alone When he visited him at his home in Fuengirola, the disease was already well advanced, “lifting a bottle or walking up the stairs was a world to him.” From that first interview, he and photographer Ñito Salas walked away with “a pinch.” of that. His last wish was to be reunited with his son before he died, but he faced a bureaucratic labyrinth. “The special visa he needed to travel took about two years on average, and he only had months left.”
“I don’t go to cemeteries, I don’t think we paint anything there.” There are other places where you can fight the blockbuster and the exclusive»
They took various steps and told their story in the newspaper, but it didn’t have the desired effect. Months later, cardiologist Rafael Bravo, who was treating Ablaye, “the true angel of this story,” called him and told him, “It’s over.” This time, his story and photography found an echo “in the bones” and it formed an “improvised train” of solidarity. They published several reports, other media joined in, one club even wrote to Queen Letizia. Despite the obstacles imposed on him in Senegal, Cheikh managed to visit his father in November and stayed with him until his death on December 4th. In the award-winning report, Cano describes their meeting in the hospital, which his nephew Mamadou Lamine from Tenerife also attended, in detail and with just the right amount of emotion. Ablaye, “a loved and respected man” left unaware that he was leaving a great legacy, “he may have saved his son’s life”. Cheikh stays in Spain because he has the gene for the disease, but if he develops it they can treat it as a chronic disease in time. His daughter “just arrived” and only the little brother is missing.
“We are for it. “In these stories, our work makes more sense,” Cano said, appealing to the journalist’s “responsibility.” He spoke of “interested and interesting” sources and recalled that “in a popular climate of the lynching of Dolores Vázquez” it was not easy for his newspaper to maintain a critical stance in investigating the Wanninkhof case. When Sonia Carabantes’ body was found, “the first suspicions were directed at six young people from the city,” whom she does not refer to, but other media did, “and it shaped her life.”
Hundreds of people attended the award ceremony, including officials, journalists and newspaper subscribers.
One of the most difficult cases he has dealt with is that of little Julen. The journalists who were near the Totalán fountain were the first to confirm his death, but they waited to spread the news “so his family wouldn’t find out from the newspapers.” They made a pact, “and it was fulfilled.” It’s not just you and sometimes you have to take a step back,” he suspects. “I don’t go to cemeteries either, I don’t think we paint too much there.” There are other places where you can fight the blockbuster and the exclusive.
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journalist and teacher.
Juan Cano was born in Garrucha (Almería) in 1978 and has worked for the Sur newspaper since 2002, specializing in chronicling events and courts. He is a member of the Colpisa research team and is a regular contributor to radio and television programs. He holds a PhD in Communication Sciences from the University of Malaga and is a professor at the same centre. He has received several awards for his articles. -
The judge.
José Miguel Santamaría (Director of EL CORREO), President of the Jury; Members, Enrique de Ybarra (President of the Vocento Foundation), José María Bergareche and Alejandro Echevarría (Directors of EL CORREO), Íñigo Barrenechea (Director General of EL CORREO), Carlos Aganzo (Director of the Vocento Foundation) and César Coca (Deputy) . to the address of EL CORREO). -
Previous Winners.
Isabel Coixet, Javier Goma, Adela Cortina, Harkaitz Cano, Lorenzo Silva, Miguel Zugaza, Antonio Elorza, Juan Carlos Perez de la Fuente, Francesc de Carreras, Fernando Velazquez, Gonzalo Suarez, Kirmen Uribe, Manuel Montero, Luis Gonzalez Seara, Manuel Jesus Gonzalez, Jose Luis Villacañas, Alvaro Pombo, Jose Carlos Mainer, Santiago Gonzalez, Ferran Gallego, Eugenio Trias, Iñaki Ezkerra, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Roberto Velasco, Gurutz Jauregui, Vincent Palacio Attard, Francisco Nieva, Feliciano Correa, Rosa Montero, Juan Paul Fusi, Julio Llamazares, Aurelius Arteta, Cristóbal Halffter, Jon Juaristi and Paul Lucas Verdu.
