For her contribution to the promotion, dissemination, and understanding of various artistic disciplines and cultural activities in Mexico, the American journalist based in Mexico City, Merry MacMasters, was unanimously chosen as the winner of the second edition of the National Journalism Prize of the Filey Book Fair 2019.
The award-winner, who currently works for the newspaper La Jornada in Mexico City, continues in a career of 39 years in cultural journalism, explained the president of the Filey, Rodolfo Cobos Argüelles, who said that 10 nominations for the prize were received, one of them from Sonora, another one from Baja California and the rest from the center of the country, while no Yucatan or Peninsular journalist was proposed.
“Among the nominees was a person with a great career who deserved the award, but it is important to make clear that the call clearly states that the spirit of the award is to recognize the effort and professionalism in the daily exercise of the work of the beat reporter, and not a columnist or editor,” explained Cobos Argüelles at a press conference in which he was accompanied by maestro Roldán Peniche Barrera and journalist José Luis Preciado Barreto, who served as part of the jury.
The award will be given to the journalist during the eighth edition of the International Book Fair of Yucatán (Filey), an event promoted by the Autonomous University of Yucatan (Uady), which will take place from March 16 to 24.
Merry MacMasters was born in the United States and has been in Mexico for more than 40 years. She graduated from the History of Art program at the Universidad Iberoamericana and started her work in the radio station of UNAM.
She worked in the newspaper El Nacional for twelve years and since 1994 he has worked at La Jornada.
Among the coverage of matters of national interest, Merry MacMasters revealed the litigation of the collection of paintings by the surrealist painter Remedios Varo.
She has interviewed people from the cultural sphere such as Spencer Tunick, Michael Nyman, Philip Glass, Tito Puente, César Portillo de la Luz, José Antonio Méndez, Georg Baselitz, Leonora Carrington, Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Toledo, Vicente Rojo and Manuel Felguérez.
The presentation of the Filey National Journalism Prize is part of the Cultural Journalism Meeting to be held during this International Book Fair; the award ceremony will take place on March 18 at 7:00 p.m.
The recipient of the prize of Cultural Journalism of the Filey 2019 has received other awards from different institutions and government agencies for her work and journalistic career.
Text: Manuel Pool Moguel
Photo: Courtesy
