Santo Domingo. – The Center for Analysis and Study of Communication (CAESCO) held the fourth edition of the 2026 Youth Journalism Awards this Wednesday, recognizing journalistic works that contribute to making the challenges, opportunities, and realities of Dominican youth visible.
During the ceremony, the works of journalists Andilis Almonte, Zahiris Priscila Francisco Martínez, and Melanie Cuevas Vicente were awarded as winners of the three main categories: Youth and Democracy, Youth Building the Future, and Social Reality, respectively.
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The awards are an initiative by CAESCO to stimulate journalistic practice committed to stories that generate awareness, promote transformations, and place relevant issues for the country’s social and democratic development into the public conversation.
In the Youth and Democracy category, journalist Andilis Almonte, from 7 Segundos Multimedia, won an award for a piece on youth indifference in politics. In this category, honorable mentions were also given to Massiel De Jesús Acosta, from the newspaper elDinero, for “Youth and women: a relay that wins the vote…”; Cristal Acevedo, from the digital media outlet El Gobierno, for “Pending challenges for Dominican youth”; and Dayanara Reyes Pujols, from the newspaper Hoy, for “The trap of apathy: Why the electoral disinterest…?”.
In Jóvenes que Hacen Futuro, Zahiris Priscila Francisco Martínez, from the newspaper Raíz Climática, was awarded as the winner for “The waves from within: resisting, healing, and continuing to fight from the Caribbean”. Honorable mentions went to Mariela Lorenzo, from Diario Libre, for her work on a young Dominican who created an autonomous vessel to tackle sargassum on the beaches, and to Catalina Mendoza, from Raíz Climática, for “What shape does hope take in these times of uncertainty?”.
While in the Social Reality category, the winner was Melanie Cuevas Vicente, from Listín Diario, for “5 years after banning child marriage…” Honorable mentions were also awarded to Karla Alcántara, from Acento; Luis David Flores, from elDinero; Katheryn Luna, from Acento; Olga Vérges, from Hoy; Roger José Figueroa, from El Nuevo Diario; and Dilenni Bonilla, from El Día, for works related to teenage pregnancy, labor inclusion, social risks, and the challenges young people face in accessing their first job.
Otáñez: continuing to do journalism beyond the noise
During his remarks, the president of CAESCO, Miguel Otáñez, stated that the persistence of the awards also represents a response to the difficulties that social impact initiatives face in securing support from the public and private sectors.
Otáñez revealed that he even considered announcing that this would be the last edition of the awards due to apathy and a lack of response and support, but he highlighted that the commitment of the CAESCO volunteer team reaffirmed the decision to continue working for a society with better opportunities, respect, and the common good.
The president of CAESCO told journalists that professional practice is currently taking place in a scenario marked by misinformation, new professional demands, extortion, and vulgarity, in the face of which journalism committed to truth and social justice acquires even greater relevance.
Likewise, he maintained that CAESCO will continue to bet on initiatives whose results transcend the short term and contribute to building a better society for future generations.
A recognition of journalism that generates value
The Youth Journalism Awards seek to recognize work that contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the realities that impact young people, promoting communication capable of contributing to democratic strengthening, citizen participation, and the search for solutions to the main social challenges.
In this fourth edition, the Youth Journalism Awards included three categories: Social Reality, aimed at works on issues affecting Dominican youth; Youth Making the Future, for stories of young people who generate a positive impact; and Youth and Democracy, focused on the participation of new generations in democratic strengthening.
With this initiative, Youth Journalism seeks to highlight the role of the media in making the experiences and challenges of the new generations visible, while the Youth Journalism Awards recognize the work of professionals committed to these issues.
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The winners of each category receive a recognition plaque, RD$40,000 and a multimedia electronic device, as part of the recognition granted by Youth Journalism to the selected works.
In addition to recognizing the winners, Youth Journalism has established itself as a space to promote journalism focused on new generations and the issues that impact their development. Through this award, Youth Journalism encourages the production of investigations, reports, and chronicles that promote public debate on education, civic participation, employment, inclusion, the environment, and other challenges faced by young people in the Dominican Republic.
About CAESCO and Youth Journalism
The Center for Analysis and Study of Communication (CAESCO) works to contribute to the debate and raise the quality of communication in the Dominican Republic, promote training linked to the sector, and contribute to the strengthening of the democratic climate, freedom of expression, and sustainable socioeconomic development.
The organization is based on the conviction that communication constitutes a transversal axis of society and that access to knowledge, quality debate, and the visibility of different realities can generate awareness and contribute to the search for collective solutions.
