Matanzas and its awards at the National Festival: the radio that unites Cuba.
Matanzas thus reaffirms its commitment to radio as a living, close and constantly evolving medium. The National Radio Festival will be held in Camagüey from June 3rd to 8th, where the awards will be officially presented.
Matanzas once again proved that radio is much more than sound: it is history, culture and commitment to its people. At the 36th National Cuban Radio Festival, as announced on Tuesday, the province won a Grand Prize, six awards and six mentions, with programs and informative proposals that connect with diverse audiences.
Within the results of excellence, the direct Grand Prize in Productions for Internet went to Radio 26’s website, whose edition is in charge of Gicel Guerra de la Riva and Maritza Tejera García, who comments:
«Already last year our site had achieved mention. It is a success of Radio 26 News, of the webmaster, of our colleagues who move the social networks.
«It is a collective award that, far from boasting us, commits us and scares us a little because, if last year we got a mention and this year the Grand Prize, the coming years put pressure on us to, at least, be awarded.
«Gicel Guerra de la Riva and I thank our colleagues, who are the ones who make the site. They, more than us, have won this award. We are also very happy that our station Radio 26 is among the winners of the Cuban Radio awards».
From Radio Varadero, Cuba’s FM, director and journalist Regla Llorente won four awards, in the categories of Interview with Lisbety, the girl from ¡Qué Negra!; Best work in social networks to promote dialogue with the public, for Conexión 98; while the Varadero, entre mar y piel channel stood out as Best production for YouTube and Best production for the Internet.
Dunia Bermúdez, José Miguel Solis, Yunielys Moliner and Pedro Rizo, journalists of the News Department of Radio 26, were awarded for their work in the coverage of the accident at the José Luis Dubrocq high school in the city of Matanzas.
In the News Magazines category, De primera mano, of the provincial plant, deserved the award, a fair recognition to the tireless work of the technical-artistic team involved in its production and of the journalists, according to David Zamora, director of the program that is broadcasted from Monday to Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. «I am very happy with this result,» said Zamora.
«It really takes many hours of work, but in the end you see the result. We are not so far away from what we want to bring to the target audience, which is the people of Matanzas, the Cuban people and even internationally, because we have received reports of tuning from several countries.
«Above all, it is the challenge of reaching the audience with truthful and timely information and having that work recognized. For me, for each one of us who are part of this group, it is very gratifying.
«This is one more challenge, we must continue improving, we must continue working so that the news magazine continues to reach the people who listen to us with greater quality.»
Among the mentions, producer Nolberto Cedeño was recognized for two of his programs: the children’s program Carrusel de Fantasías, which was dedicated to danzón, and the one aimed at teenagers and young people, 360 grados.
«I love working with children because they are like a piece of clay that you mold as you get closer to them, you shape them and you work very well with the little ones. I was extremely satisfied, so I extend my congratulations to Liset Ortiz, who was the advisor of the program, and to the children who put so much love into it.
«As for the youth program, it was a program dedicated to drugs in which I emphasized the chemical, a drug that unfortunately is affecting our country. I also congratulate the members of the 360 collective, Mercy Anilia Garcés, writer Jessica Acevedo, María Paula, with whom I shared the conduction, René Hernández and David Zamora, who were the recorders and editors».
Special recognition went to the Conjunto Dramático de Radio 26 and the program La mesa está servida, with a chapter related to gender issues, with script and direction by Bárbara Tápanes Toledo.
«I received this mention in the specialty Specific Addressee (woman), with a program La Mesa Está Servida. I was surprised in the sense that it has been a long time since Radio 26’s drama group had won any awards at radio festivals and other events.
«Receiving a mention in this category in that program that works on Cuban everyday issues is gratifying. I wrote Los errores de Sayli from that mistreatment that women sometimes receive, that silent, silent mistreatment. So, Sayli is that girl who was reflected in the performance of Sarahís de Armas López as the main character. The mention goes to the Grupo Dramático de Radio 26 that we are working, as we all know, in the midst of energy contingencies, for which I thank the musicalizer Lowis Miguel Baranis and the team, who work with a lot of love in all the programs».
Other awards included Juanita Perdomo’s Royalton Varadero commentary, Las Peras y el Olmo; Dayron Medina’s sports narration and Jessica Mesa Duarte’s cultural talk show Íntimamente público. Roberto Amaya, head of programming at Radio 26, values the impact of these awards.
«We exceeded, in general, the expectations, taking into account that we are working in the middle of the electro-energetic situation that the country is going through. To have six awards, a grand prize and six mentions gives us great satisfaction, it is the crowning of days of sleeplessness, of anguish, of commitment to continue working for a better festival.
«It is also the recognition of the effort of each of the producers who contributed to raise the name of the radio station, the name of the province. I feel happy, so is the collective of Matanzas’ radio broadcasters and the radio station’s management».
Matanzas thus reaffirms its commitment to radio as a living, close and constantly evolving medium. The National Radio Festival will be held in Camagüey from June 3rd to 8th, where the awards will be officially presented after evaluating more than 600 works from the country.
Written by Jessica Mesa.
