El pintor y viñetista Andrés Rábago, El Roto, ha sido galardonado este jueves con la XXI edición del Premio de Periodismo ‘Diario Madrid’. El jurado, reunido para dictar su fallo en la sede de la Asociación de Periodistas Europeos, acordó por mayoría otorgarle el galardón, “reconociendo así una trayectoria ejemplar y sostenida a lo largo de medio siglo” con la que el colaborador de EL PAÍS “ha marcado a varias generaciones de españoles”.

El jurado encargado de la concesión del premio ha estado presidido por el filósofo y ensayista José Luis Pardo e integrado por Miguel Ángel Aguilar, presidente de la Fundación Diario Madrid; José Vicente de Juan, vicepresidente de la Fundación Diario Madrid; Nativel Preciado, escritora y periodista; Ana Zunzarren, exdirectora de EFE TV; Victoria Carvajal, columnista de The Objective; Juan de Oñate, director de la Asociación de Periodistas Europeos; Alfredo Jiménez-Millas, director general comercial de El Confidencial; Andrés Trapiello, escritor y columnista, premiado en la XX edición; Marta García Aller, colaboradora de El Confidencial y de Onda Cero, y Carlos Chaguaceda, director de Comunicación del Museo del Prado.

Para los integrantes del jurado, El Roto “ha sabido interpretar día a día los problemas, inquietudes y enigmas de nuestra sociedad y lo ha logrado con una personalidad única y la solvencia heredada de Goya y de Solana”. Y añaden: “Su humor, un humor muy serio, hijo directo de Cervantes, le ha ayudado a tratar sus asuntos de una manera sagaz y luminosa, incluso en los temas más negros y lúgubres. Incluso en estos su responsabilidad, independencia y libertad insobornables jamás le han impedido ser un hombre bueno”.

Andrés Rábago, más conocido por sus seudónimos OPS y El Roto, es uno de los referentes indiscutibles del humor gráfico y la crítica social en España. Autodidacta, comenzó su trayectoria en los años setenta bajo la firma OPS, con un estilo onírico, inquietante y simbólico que dejó huella en publicaciones como La Codorniz, Hermano Lobo o Triunfo. En los años ochenta adoptó el nombre de El Roto, con el que alcanzaría una amplia notoriedad por su mirada afilada sobre la actualidad, plasmada en viñetas de trazo austero y texto contundente. Sus ilustraciones han aparecido en medios como Diario 16, El Independiente y —de forma diaria desde los años noventa— en El País, donde se ha consolidado como una voz crítica imprescindible. Paralelamente, desarrolla una intensa actividad pictórica firmada como A. Rábago, con obra expuesta en numerosas galerías e instituciones culturales. A lo largo de su carrera, ha recibido importantes reconocimientos, como el Premio de Periodismo Francisco Cerecedo de la Asociación de Periodistas Europeos, el Premio Nacional de Ilustración o la Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes.

El Premio de Periodismo ‘Diario Madrid’ está dotado con 12.000 € y un bajorrelieve en bronce, evocador del cierre del Diario Madrid, obra del escultor Julio López Hernández. En anteriores ediciones fueron premiados, entre otros, Andrés Trapiello, Carmen Aristegui, Javier Marías, Francesc de Carreras, Masha Gessen, Katharine Viner, Juan Villoro, Giovanni di Lorenzo, Rafael Jorba, José María Ridao, Mario Vargas Llosa, Philippe Nourry, Hugh Thomas, Francisco Pinto Balsemão, José Javier Uranga, Carlos Sentís y Guillermo Luca de Tena. Este nuevo galardón a El Roto será entregado por el director del Museo del Prado, Miguel Falomir, el próximo 30 de septiembre en la sede de la Fundación Diario Madrid.

I am a reader of EL PAÍS before its editor-in-chief. It’s not something I chose. My father introduced me to that habit in the 1970s. A social democrat and Spanish republican, he belonged to that group of readers who bought the newspaper from day one. I remember him walking to the newsstand and then fearlessly carrying it under his arm, when that gesture — in a Spain that hadn’t yet held general elections or approved the Constitution — meant declaring himself a democrat in the face of the timid and those nostalgic for the dictatorship.

My father would leave the newspaper — black and white in those days — on the coffee table after reading it, and I would devour it from cover to cover, not fully understanding it but feeling the pleasure of freely browsing its stories (I still remember the shock that Elvis Presley’s death caused me at age 11, and vaguely sensing that it may have been an overdose). That reading habit has never left me and in a way, it led me to journalism — a profession I never truly felt a vocation for (archaeology was more my thing), but which drew me in when, still a university student, I began writing for very local outlets.

More than 30 years have passed since then, but I’ve always felt that a fundamental part of my work — whether as a reporter or editor — has been based on my previous experience as a reader, on the memory of the flow of articles and images that left a mark on me.

It’s not the act, but its lasting mark, that really matters. The lasting impression that a news outlet leaves on us over time, fostering trust, appreciation, and credibility. Thanks to this groundwork, we turn to an article in our newspaper knowing that if it’s an interview, it will have good follow-up questions, or that if it’s a profile of a politician, it will steer clear of partisanship or Manichaeism. In that trust lies an exchange — a form of sharing, full of intangibles — that reflects a specific way of doing journalism. A code that, in times of confusion like the present, must be defended. Not out of a desire to return to the past or fall into the game of nostalgia, but to remain steadfast in defending the values that give journalism its strength.

We live in a fractal universe where information channels have multiplied endlessly. In this new Babel, deception has found a fertile breeding ground. In many corners of the media landscape, truth has been replaced by virality — a force that, in its pursuit of results, cares little whether what it spreads is true, entirely fabricated, or somewhere in between.

Amid these currents, alternative facts — encouraged by political power and economic interests — gain more ground each day. The rise of the far right and the victories of Donald Trump and his imitators are part of this new barbarism. In a world marked by deep instability, the new alpha males attack and delegitimize institutions from within; the will to power tramples the values of consensus, which are seen as weak and outdated. What seemed unthinkable a decade ago (who would have imagined a U.S. president profiting from his office, musing about annexing Canada and Greenland, denigrating foreigners, and facilitating Putin’s dirty work?) has become reality. And in the face of that, as has so often been the case in history, we must fight for the obvious.

Truth exists, and journalists have a duty to pursue it. That pursuit does not rely on grand pronouncements, but on method — simple and clear: verifying, seeking accurate data, listening to all sides in a conflict, going to the scene, questioning official narratives, and holding power to account. These are the tools journalists use to get closer to the truth and to break away from the false equivalence that puts victims and perpetrators on the same level. We don’t always get to the bottom of every story, and sometimes we make mistakes, but the use of method (and the subsequent mechanisms to acknowledge those mistakes) ensures a publication’s integrity and helps build that lasting impression, that mark of trust and credibility.

That is what readers expect from EL PAÍS, and what has allowed us, over the years, to become a newspaper of global standing. It’s a job that, in the face of the pandemic of lies, demands more than ever a commitment to independence and plurality. Values that this newspaper has defended from day one, when Spain was still emerging from its darkest days. Today, just as then, EL PAÍS aspires to defend democracy, to be a vehicle for diversity and equality.

Last Friday, June 6, I took office as editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS, and that same day, before the editorial staff, I gave a speech in which I reaffirmed my commitment to truth and independence. Deep down (and please forgive me for being so personal) I knew I was saying this as just another reader, as someone who expects this from their newspaper so they can carry it under their arm, just as they once saw it done, with pride, in the face of democracy’s enemies.

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The management board of EL PAÍS on Friday approved the appointment of Jan Martínez Ahrens as editor-in-chief of the newspaper, effective immediately. In accordance with the EL PAÍS Newsroom Statute, the new editor’s appointment was submitted yesterday to a consultative vote and approved by more than two-thirds of the editorial staff, almost 70%, before being presented to the board. Martínez Ahrens (Paris, 59) becomes the eighth editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS in the nearly 50-year history of the newspaper.

Martínez Ahrens addressed the editorial staff Friday in a speech in which he summarized his extensive experience working at “all levels” of EL PAÍS, and began with a resounding acknowledgment: “This newspaper is what it is thanks to its editorial staff, the rigor of its journalists, and the conviction here that pluralism and independence are essential to reaching the truth.”

The editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS emphasized the newpaper’s commitment to the Americas and to colleagues who “in many cases work in countries and environments that are extremely hostile to journalism.”

“It’s a region where we are needed because we are a bastion in the defense of human rights and democracy,” he noted. “The commitment to freedoms where they are at risk is one of the essential features of our newspaper, as is generating high-value information that provides our audience with certainty in confusing times.”

The search for truth

Martínez Ahrens expressed his conviction that the company’s financial stability will allow it to strengthen strategic areas and face a present and future in which good journalism is, and will be, more necessary than ever: “In a world shaken by war, misinformation, and clickbait, our task is to offer context, explain, and seek the truth — the truth that many try to bury, but which exists. To achieve it, we must rely on the logic of the profession. Monitor power and distrust official and biased versions. Our weapons are contrasting, pursuing accurate data and key testimony, and speaking with both sides of the conflict. With these, we will always win the competition for audience and subscribers.”

Furthermore, the editor-in-chief clearly laid out the ambition of his project: “We must be leaders.” He did so by emphasizing the newspaper’s hallmarks throughout its nearly five-decade history: “We are a progressive newspaper that supports equality and diversity in all their forms. We are also an independent and plural newspaper.”

Commitment to the Americas

Encouraging the honoring of EL PAÍS’ five-decade journalistic heritage and its connection to a demanding audience, Martínez Ahrens summarized his commitment to “respect for readers, for the truth, and for independence.” Finally, before signing off, he wished to address his international colleagues and reiterate that he remains the editor of EL PAÍS in the Americas.

For her part, Pilar Gil, CEO of PRISA Media and EL PAÍS, applauded the editor’s speech, also thanking outgoing editor-in-chief Pepa Bueno for her work over the past four years and her efforts to put subscribers at the center of the news offering. Regarding Martínez Ahrens’ appointment, Gil stated: “It reinforces our commitment to the values of EL PAÍS and its internal talent, and our radical commitment to journalism and independence. Now, finally, under Jan’s leadership, it’s time for people to talk about us for the excellence of our teams and the impact of our publications, for telling citizens the stories that deserve to be told, and the truths that must be uncovered.”

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