Ángel Huguet has been the first recipient of the Rural Communication Award for a lifetime dedicated to telling the story of the Somontano region from a close perspective.
The Huesca Provincial Council announced on Wednesday the recipient of the first Rural Communication Award: Ángel Huguet Ascaso, from Barbastro, in recognition of his exemplary career spanning more than half a century in local and community journalism. The award, promoted by the Provincial Council in collaboration with the Association of Journalists of Aragon, will be presented this Thursday at the 27th Huesca Journalism Congress by the president of the provincial institution, Isaac Claver.
During the presentation the day before, the Deputy for Culture of the Provincial Council of Huesca, Carlos Sampériz, stressed that “recognizing Ángel Huguet is recognizing that rural journalism is not second-rate journalism; we want to celebrate a human, close and committed journalism with the towns of Alto Aragón, in addition to asserting the right of the residents of any municipality, however small, to have access to information that is local and done with rigor.”
The reasons for this recognition are numerous. Ángel Huguet has over 56 years of professional experience, witnessing and chronicling the major milestones of the Somontano region over the last half-century. He has told the story of rural life from within the rural community, making the daily realities of this area understandable. His work as a correspondent for Diario del Altoaragón, his involvement with El Cruzado Aragonés, Ronda Somontano, Radio Popular, Canal 25, and Teleferma have made him an emblem and a leading figure in local communication in eastern Alto Aragón.
Huguet, for his part, was particularly moved and excited by the recognition, which, he stated, highlights “the value of small towns and their people.” The journalist expressly thanked the institutional support that made this award possible and affirmed that he receives it with immense gratitude “for what it represents for a whole way of practicing the profession, one that is deeply connected to the land, to daily life, and to the people of these towns.”
In his words, working close to the local area also allows for telling stories that would hardly find a place in other major news outlets. “These are the advantages of working in media close to the local area, where it's possible to tell stories that aren't usually reported,” Huguet pointed out, citing as an example those local news stories that, without rural media, would remain invisible. He also expressed his gratitude to colleagues, media outlets, and people with whom he has shared these decades in the profession.
The award, promoted by the provincial institution in collaboration with the Association of Journalists of Aragon and endowed with 2.000 euros, was created to distinguish communication professionals who work in, from or about the province and who contribute to making the reality of the towns visible with closeness, rigor and vocation of public service.
