| For immediate release August 14, 2000 |
Jessamyn Sarmiento, NPR 202-414-2300 jsarmiento@npr.org |
| Lulu Lopez, Latino USA 512-232-7346 |
Gabriel Award for Latino USA's Special Rebroadcast of The Betrayal of Sister Dianna Ortiz is Set
Austin, TX - Latino USA Executive Director
Kate Dearborn announced today that Maria Emilia Martin, Executive Producer
and Correspondent for the program, has been selected as a winner of the
prestigious Unda-USA Gabriel Award for her story Who Were the Torturers?
The Betrayal of Sister Dianna Ortiz. The special two-part Latino USA
series aired in November 1999 on National Public Radio® (NPR®). Public radio
listeners can hear the special again, when it is rebroadcast on August 18
and 25 on NPR. Check www.latinousa.org for more information. Martin was
recently honored with a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for her story of
Sister Ortiz, which she produced while on fellowship with The Kiplinger
Public Affairs Program at Ohio State University.
In The Betrayal of Sister Dianna Ortiz,
Martin revealed new information, from a former federal agent, about the
abduction of a U.S. nun in Guatemala, ten years after she was kidnapped,
tortured and raped by individuals she believes were members of the
Guatemalan military. The program reported revelations about the U.S.
government's involvement with this incident and with repressive Latin
American military regimes. Sister Ortiz had accused the U.S. government of
suppressing knowledge about her torturers.
"Maria Martin has done an excellent job of
demonstrating the most important role public radio plays in America's
national dialogue: bringing unheard voices to the ears of listeners around
the country and telling stories that otherwise would not have been told,"
said Bill Davis, Senior Vice-President for Programming at NPR. "Latino USA
tells these important stories every week. It is an integral part of NPR's
service to the country."
Latino USA is one of a number of prestigious
Gabriel recipients, including ABC News 20/20, Dateline NBC, the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, and the NBC Nightly News. Winners were selected
based on their ability to "raise our consciousness to focus on what is right
and good...to provide the world with quality programming which [it] so
desperately needs."
"Latino USA is a unique and important
program to Latino and non-Latino listeners alike," said Larry Mantle,
program director at KPCC-FM in Los Angeles, the second largest Latino market
in the US. "This award is well-earned."
Launched in 1993, Latino USA provides
diverse audiences with multiple perspectives on issues affecting Latinos,
fostering cross-cultural understanding, enhancing relationships among Latino
communities, and illuminating the richness of Latino cultural and artistic
expression. The program is distributed by NPR and the Longhorn Radio
Network to 172 stations in 31 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico. Radio Bilingüe and the Armed Forces Radio service expand the
program's reach to additional listeners and worldwide audiences.
Support for Latino USA is provided by the
Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the
University of Texas at Austin. Special funding for Who Were the
Torturers? The Betrayal of Sister Dianna Ortiz came from The Paul Robeson
Fund and The Fund for Investigative Journalism.
Latino USA is a production partnership of
KUT Radio and the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of
Texas at Austin. The host of Latino USA is award winning journalist, author,
and CNN Urban Affairs correspondent Maria Hinijosa. The Austin-based
production group includes Angelica Luevano, Alex Avila and Walter Morgan.
Renowned for its journalistic excellence and
standard-setting news, information and cultural programming, NPR serves a
growing audience of nearly 15 million Americans each week via more than 644
public radio stations. NPR also distributes programming to listeners in
Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa via NPR Worldwidesm, to military installations overseas via American Forces Network, and throughout Japan via
cable.
