Carlos Ra l Kestler is a 23-year-old journalist from Guatemala. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022.
Every time a tyre treads over a pothole, Guatemala loses money, says Carlos. That is the main idea behind his investigation Broken Connectivity, a series of three multimedia reports highlighting how the deterioration of the road network damages tourism, social development and commerce in his home country.
-- Play
-- --
I chose to pursue these stories after a group session we had in our newsroom, he says. We realised that everybody knows that the road network is not the best, but no one has taken the time to travel the whole country to show this problem.
Carlos and his team spent four months traveling around Guatemala to investigate the condition of the roads and highways, and to hear the real-world impact of poor roads from the people who rely on these networks for every kind of connection.
Credit: Carlos Hern ndez Ovalle (Prensa Libre & Noticiero Guatevisi n)
I think I faced two main challenges producing these stories. The first one is that I didnt know anything about the topic while I was working on it. I had to learn most of the stuff during the four months we took to produce the stories, explains Carlos. And the second one is that I had to confront the Guatemalan authorities, and often they denied the access to the information they hide. And it seems that they dont want to give explanations to the journalists and to the people of the problems that are affecting our society.
Carlos' bravery and rigour resulted in a literally ground-breaking piece of work. Not only did Broken Connectivity spark a debate about the serious and unexpected consequences of the country's poor infrastructure, it also resulted in positive change.
I think this documentary really pushed the authorities to do their job. For example, the repair of a road to the lake, he adds. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the whole country. After we mentioned it in the documentary, it was scheduled to a date sooner than the original one. And the same thing happened to another highway in the south of the country.
What the judges said The shortlist for the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award was judged by an external panel from the Foreign Press Association Awards.
This year's panel includes top journalists such as Michael Crick, a British journalist for more than 30 years, who was also founding member of Channel 4 News; Stryker McGuire, former senior editor at Bloomberg Markets; Megha Mohan, the BBC's first gender and identity correspondent; and Chair of the FPA judges, Alessandro Allocca, a freelance journalist working for the Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica.
The panel describes Broken Connectivity as an astonishing portrait of Guatemala through the quality of its roads. This was captivating and had humour.
[Broken Connectivity] is completely captivating, you found joy and happiness in the midst of the disaster that is the roads.
FPA Awards Judging panel 2022
Credit: Carlos Hern ndez Ovalle (Prensa Libre & Noticiero Guatevisi n)
What next? Carlos says he plans to follow up on the people he met on this journey, particularly those who are most isolated by Guatemalas poor road network.
Right now, these Guatemalans dont have access to good education and health and justice because they live extremely far away. So I want to know if in one year their situation changes, because at the end of the day, roads are the bridges that connect us and society, says Carlos.
Journalism is very important because it gives the information to the people so that every person can take a decision based on what is true and what is a fact. And if they have the right information, they have more freedom at the end of the day. Thats why we as journalists have the duty to convey this information with powerful storytelling so that it can impact in a more efficient way.
Credit: Carlos Ra l Kestler
For me, being a finalist in the Young Journalists Award is a huge honour. It is also a reminder that Latin American journalism can achieve high levels of quality.
Carlos Ra l Kestler About the Young Journalist Award
In partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA), the annual award enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than US$20,000 to send in their best stories.
In 2022, a remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world - Cameroon to Colombia, Ukraine to Uganda and Egypt to Ecuador. Each entrant needed to submit a portfolio of three published pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding the deadline for submissions which was August 12th, 2022.
Thomson Foundation judges looked over the entries and selected the shortlist based on criteria including originality, endeavour, interest to audiences, and the anticipated or actual impact of the story after publication or broadcast.
The winner - Yashraj Sharma - was announced at the FPA Awards ceremony on 28 November 2022 in London.
Holding the line
Meet our 2022 Young Journalist winner, Yashraj Sharma from India
Empowered - a year on from winning the Young Journalist Award
Meet our 2021 Young Journalist winner, Kai Hui Wong from Malaysia
The compassionate face of Peru
Meet our 2020 Young Journalist winner, Mart n Leandro Camacho from Peru
Explore our projects across the globe
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
Carlos Ra l Kestler is a 23-year-old journalist from Guatemala. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. 
