SUR journalist makes history by scooping the first Andalusian media award for infographics

SUR journalist Encarni Hinojosa is the first winner of the Andalucía journalism prize (Premio Andalucía de Periodismo) in the infographics category.

It is the first time these media awards, the most prestigious in the region, have included a section dedicated to visual journalism. In its debut year the award went to Hinojosa for her work on the history of forest fires in Andalucía since records began.

"It was about time that visual journalists who have been contributing quality to journalism with graphics, designs, models and infographics for a long time were recognised," Hinojosa said.

Hinojosa dedicated the award to her "two families". The closest one, being her parents; Maite, her husband, and her two children, and the one made up of her colleagues at SUR in Malaga.

Hinojosa especially thanked Fran Ruano, head of art and design at the newspaper, who died last August in a traffic accident. "More than my boss, he was a friend and a role model, the one who taught me everything I know about visual journalism and to whom I owe it to be here today," she said. Hinojosa remembered him as one of the best visual journalists in the country and one of the most influential art directors in Spain.

The ceremony, held at the Palacio de San Telmo in Seville, was attended by the Junta's president Juanma Moreno, who vindicated the journalistic work of seeking the truth in the face of naysayers. Moreno advocated in his speech for rigorous journalism that is committed to Andalucía and said this "does not come from social media or from rumours, hoaxes or the thick broth of the internet, but from the professionalism of journalists and the seriousness of the media". "Help us to be better governors, better managers; in short, help us to make this land progress," he added.

Also receiving awards were the family of the recently deceased Antonio Burgos (lifetime achievement award), Canal Sur TV (television); Diario Ideal de Granada (written press); Cordópolis and eldiario.es (radio); photojournalist Lourdes de Vicente of Diario de Cádiz (photography) and photographer Manuel Fernández, of Associated Press (international projection).

Encarni Hinojosa is a journalist specialising in infographics, data visualisation and visual story telling. She has been apart of Vocento, publisher of SUR, since the beginning of her professional career. After completing her internship at the Malaga daily, she passed through other media of the group including La Voz de Cádiz and Colpisa, until returning to Malaga in 2019. Her infographics have been recognised in other journalistic competitions such as the Premios de Defensa (2006, Ministry of Defence), ÑH (several years, Society for News Design-España) and the Ciudad de Málag (2020, Malaga city council and Asociación de la Prensa de Málaga).