Best reporting in any medium on Latin America
AWARD YEAR: 1997
AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 1997
RECIPIENT: Mary Beth Sheridan
AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Times
HONORED WORK: “Mexico: Beyond The Myth”
Sheridan’s outstanding reporting takes the story of Mexico and U.S.-Mexican relations beyond the stereotypes and conventional wisdom that dominate thinking about our southern neighbor. Her fascinating slices of Mexican life range from a discussion of the ancient peasant-landlord animosity that is the real fuel behind the uprising in Chiapas to the new realism of Mexican telenovelas, or soap operas. But where Sheridan really shines is in her economic reporting, which elucidates the sharp divide between the “Dollar Mexicans” who are benefiting from the NAFTA-inspired export boom and the *Peso Mexicans” who have yet to recover from 1995’s devaluation and recession.
Citations for Excellence:
Alma Guillermoprieto
The New Yorker
“The Riddle of Raul”
Sebastian Rotella
Los Angeles Times
“Window On Latin America