Posted on September 10, 2008 at 5:20 am

National Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism to be Presented at Temple University by AL DIA in Philadelphia

The first Felix Varela National Awards for Excellence in Spanish language journalism will be presented by the AL DIA Foundation at 4:30 p.m. Tues., Sept. 30, in the Great Court at Temple University’s Mitten Hall, 1913 N. Broad St., Philadelphia.

The award is named in honor of an American intellectual of Hispanic origin, who 184 years ago in Philadelphia published “El Habanero,” one of the first Spanish-language newspapers in the United States.

Guest speaker at the event will be Alberto Ibarguen, President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Two $10,000 National Awards for Excellence in Spanish-Language Journalism – the first Felix Varela Awards — will be presented by the AL DIA Foundation at 4:30 p.m. Tues., Sept. 30, in the Great Court at Temple University’s Mitten Hall, 1913 N. Broad St., Philadelphia.

The prizes will go to Claudia Nuñez of the Los Angeles daily La Opinión in the category of Spanish-language Journalism, and to Matt O’Brien of the Daily Review of Hayward, Ca., for English-language coverage in the Hispanic Immigration Stories category.

“Hispanic print journalism has been contributing to the national dialogue for the past 200 years, ever since Father Felix Varela y Morales founded the first known Spanish-language newspaper on the East Coast in Philadelphia,” stated Hernán Guaracao, Chairman of the AL DIA Foundation and Editor and Publisher of AL DIA Newspaper.

“It is about time we recognize this type of overlooked American journalism produced today by hundreds of Spanish-language publications across the nation,” he added.

Guest speaker at the event, which is co-hosted by Temple University’s School of Communications and Theater, will be Alberto Ibarguen, President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which invests in journalism excellence worldwide.

Father Felix Varela y Morales was born in Havana in 1788, and died in Saint Augustine, Fla., in 1853. In 1824, at 37 years of age, Father Varela, escaping political persecution in Spain, found refuge in Philadelphia where in Old City he published “El Habanero,” a newspaper in which he passionately wrote for the independence of Cuba.

Father Varela also was a prolific writer and the author of multiple essays on cooperation between the English and Spanish-speaking communities. He translated into Spanish several important English-language books, including Thomas Jefferson’s A Manual of Parliamentary Practice. In 1997, the U.S. Postal Service honored Varela by issuing a commemorative stamp.

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