Award name: 19 The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America AWARD YEAR: 2004 AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 2004 RECIPIENTS: Stephen Segaller and Angus Macqueen AFFILIATION: Thirteen/WNET, Channel 4, October Films Ltd. HONORED WORK: Wide Angle: “An Honest Citizen” Wide Angle’s Honest Citizen stood out as a compelling, on-camera look at Maria Cristina Chirolla’s struggles…

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America YEAR: 2003 AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 2003 RECIPIENT: Susan Ferriss AFFILIATION: Cox News Service HONORED WORK: “Broken Promises: How Economic Reforms Have Failed Mexico” This series stood out among some very strong entries from Latin America. In 12 distinct but connected articles, Ferriss laid…

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America AWARD YEAR: 2002 AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 2002 RECIPIENT: Sonia Nazario AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Times HONORED WORK: “The Boy Left Behind” Sonia Nazario’s series on a Honduran boy’s epic struggle to find his estranged mother in the U.S. was an easy choice for the…

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America AWARD YEAR: 2001 AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 2001 RECIPIENT: John Otis AFFILIATION: The Houston Chronicle HONORED WORK: “Rebel Held” One of several excellent entries on the civil war in Colombia, The Houston Chronicle’s special section was the jury’s choice because it described the FARC…

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America AWARD DATE: 2000 AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 2000 AWARD RECIPIENT: Peter Van Sant, Susan Zirinsky, Al Briganti, Patti Aronofsky, Shoshanah Wolfson, Chuck Stevenson, Robert Orozovich, Mead Stone, Alberto Moya AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: CBS Newsm – 48 Hours AWARD HONORED WORK: “Lori Berenson: Brutal Consequences”…

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America In a brilliant series of articles, the author attacked an extremely difficult and important subject, namely the failure of the judicial systems in Latin America to mete out even-handed justice. The author argued that the need to improve the judiciary is probably the biggest story in Latin…

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America AWARD DATE: 1998 AWARD NAME: The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award 1998 RECIPIENT: Edwin Garcia, Michelle Levander, Ricardo Sandoval AFFILIATION: The San Jose Mercury News HONORED WORK: “Lost In Transit” The authors exposed how Mexican migrant workers in the United States are cheated out of tens of millions…

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…