The Brazilian Report racked up another award on Thursday, being named the best news website in the Americas for a small or local newsroom in the 2024 Digital Media Americas Awards.
The prestigious award was granted by the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), a non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, new regional press organizations, and many individual newspaper executives in 100 countries.
“The Brazilian Report exemplifies a commitment to excellence in journalism and user experience,” WAN-IFRA published in the announcement of the 2024 winners. “Through innovative design, intuitive navigation, and a diverse range of multimedia storytelling, the platform continues to deliver unparalleled value to its readers. With a focus on continuous improvement and adaptation, The Brazilian Report remains at the forefront of English-language media coverage of Brazilian affairs.”
We were one of seven Brazilian winners at the 2024 Digital Media Americas Awards.
“This achievement is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment of our incredible team of journalists and contributors,” The Brazilian Report CEO Laura Quirin said. “None of this would have been possible without the remarkable individuals who make up our team. Their talent and dedication have elevated us to this remarkable achievement.”
In last year’s edition of the Digital Media Americas Awards, The Brazilian Report won the prize for Best Newsletter for a small or local company. In 2021, our website won the “Best Paid Content Strategy” award for medium- or small-sized newsrooms.
This latest Best News Website honor is proof that we are going from strength to strength in our quest to bring news on Brazil and Latin America to the world.
We have been featured in some of the biggest, most prestigious outlets in the world — such as the BBC, CNN International, Vox, Axios, Time magazine, and CNBC, among others. And, on many occasions, we have broken stories before Brazil’s traditional media giants.
Last year, one of our scoops led to federal government agencies being convicted for leaking data of beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil — the federal aid program now renamed Bolsa Família — to financial agencies offering payroll deduction loans to low-income Brazilians.
Prior to the 2022 elections, the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro launched a program allowing people enrolled in aid programs to sign up for payroll deduction loans — a government push to create feel-good factors around the economy.
On October 22, 2022, The Brazilian Report exposed the leak of private information relating to at least 3.7 million beneficiaries of the Auxílio Brasil benefit scheme. Bank representatives used this data to propose payroll deduction loans to these people during the presidential runoff campaign.
Based on our story (and following a complaint by the Sigilo Institute, a data protection watchdog), a federal judge ordered the Citizenship Ministry, state-owned bank Caixa, the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD), and Dataprev — the public firm in charge of the monthly payroll of all pensioners and beneficiaries of welfare programs — to find and control the leak, and to enhance their data protection mechanisms.
The government entities were also ordered to pay BRL 15,000 (USD 3,000) in compensation to each person whose data was leaked, and pledge BRL 40 million to a public fund that aims to repair damages related to consumers, goods, and rights. Caixa must report the situation to each of its beneficiaries, and ANPD was required to start its own audit of the issue.
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