Catching up with Holiancar Contreras: Newcomer of the Year 2023
In 2023, Venezuelan journalist Holiancar Contreras won the Newcomer of the Year - Hans Verploeg Award and with it a scholarship of 1,500 euros. This award enabled her to pay for a full semester of her journalism studies, which she is currently completing. Holiancar just started her career as a journalist, but showed her commitment to press freedom and independent reporting from the very first moment. It has been almost a year since she won the award. How is she doing now and what has the award meant to her in her personal and professional career?
Holiancar works in the border region of Venezuela and Colombia where she reports on human rights violations surrounding migration. The area where she works, Tachira, is known for large migration flows from Venezuela to Colombia. Within this area, several criminal groups are active, engaging in human trafficking, drug trafficking and extorting the local population.
The stories Holiancar writes are about people living in the border area who experience negative effects of the migration flow. By bringing out these mostly untold stories, she puts pressure on lawmakers to improve the situation. The Free Press Awards jury was very impressed that in one of her reports Holiancar exposed that migrants are forced to drink sulphurous water because water bottles there are very expensive, 1 bottle costs $25 (100,000 Colombianos).
A year later
Now, almost one year later after she won the prize, Holiancar shares how she is doing: “I am still working in journalism as a reporter at La TV Calle from the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The lack of public services and many other problems continue to affect the inhabitants. For me it is still important to be the voice of those who have no voice, and to report what is happening on this side of the state of Táchira.”
“The award has been of great help in fulfilling my biggest dream: being a journalist.”
The Newcomer of The Year award also had an impact on her professional career, Holiancar says. “Without a doubt, the award has had a significant impact on my professional and personal life. Those who did not know my work have started reading and keeping an eye on what I publish. My reach is wider and that is very beneficial. The living conditions in the border region between Venezuela and Colombia have become more known. Even La TV Calle, the place where I am employed, benefits from a larger audience."
She continues: "Since winning the award, I feel that a great responsibility rests on me. This has encouraged me to do my job even better. Not only for myself, La TV Calle and their readers, but also for press freedom in general. The complexities and risks at the border are always there and dealing with them was a challenge, but I have been able to do it. It has been a boost to my life and career.
I want to encourage young people to dare to dream, to work very hard, to give their best, to compete and win. This is how this new generation of journalists will contribute to global press freedom and provide our societies with reliable information.”
