
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...
06/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/06/2026
Matrox Video today announced the launch of the Matrox Maevex MGX Series, a new lineup of IPMX-ready video encoders and decoders with USB support that is enginee...
06/06/2026
Atomos (booth# S1006) announced immediate availability of Sumo PRO-19, a new 19-inch 4K HDR monitor-recorder-switcher designed as a central production hub for m...
06/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo 2026 DoPchoice introduces a complete light-shaping system for the new Creamsource Vortex2, further expanding the fixture's wide versatility...
06/06/2026
SmallHD will debut a new OLED 4K production monitor with a 16 display, the OLED 16, that combines OLED's industry-benchmark contrast ratio, exceptional col...
06/06/2026
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David Mullen ASC Being Honored at the 30th Annual Cine Gear Expo LA
Cine Gear Expo has announced the recipients of ...
06/06/2026
World premiere at Cine Gear Expo Los Angeles, June 5-6...
06/06/2026
See it first at Cine Gear Expo LA, Booth #S1703
DoPchoice introduces the latest addition to its inflatable AIRGLOW series the 8 2 Frame for RuPixel Canvas. ...
05/06/2026
The university-wide initiative has pushed their creative content to a new level
Although collegiate athletics at a single institution can contain numerous spo...
05/06/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
05/06/2026
Synamedia has announced that Lumine Group has agreed to acquire its Video Network business. The company is positioning the transition as the start of a new phas...
05/06/2026
Ateme, Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), and Scaleway have announced a strategic partnership to deliver a cloud-based media supply chain covering ingest through...
05/06/2026
Audinate has announced three new additions to its Dante AVIO Install adapter series: a 4-Channel Analog Input, a 4-Channel Analog Output, and a 2-Ch In/2-Ch Out...
05/06/2026
Sportradar Group AG has announced a multi-year extension of its exclusive global...
05/06/2026
The M6 Group will broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026 matches live and in Ultra High D...
05/06/2026
The Athletic has announced that PGA TOUR highlights will be integrated into its golf coverage beginning with the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday. PGA T...
05/06/2026
When the FIFA World Cup arrives in North America in 2026, it will bring more tha...
05/06/2026
FIFA and DAZN have announced the launch of FIFA exclusively on DAZN, consolidating FIFA's content portfolio within DAZN's sports platform. The move fol...
05/06/2026
Telemundo's exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 G...
05/06/2026
Dolby Laboratories and NBCUniversal have announced that Peacock will stream Tele...
05/06/2026
Formula 1 has announced a 10-year extension to keep the Las Vegas Grand Prix on the F1 calendar through 2037. Las Vegas Grand Prix, Inc., Clark County, and the ...
05/06/2026
The broadcast-engineering team overcomes wind, speed, and salt water - and dista...
05/06/2026
Deploying both onsite and remote crews, the company is providing calibrated-came...
05/06/2026
With Inter&Co Stadium unavailable, ESPN's UFL team rebuilt its broadcast pla...
05/06/2026
One of the most exciting and informative events on the SVG annual event calendar is the Regional Sports Production Summit, an annual gathering of industry profe...
05/06/2026
For the race's third year at the historic racetrack, the broadcaster has added cameras and will incorporate multiple drones
The 158th edition of the Belmon...
05/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
05/06/2026
Built from the same recordings as flagship library
Sonuscore's LUX Orchestral Strings has been met with widespread praise since its launch in late 2025,...
05/06/2026
High-end converter, interface & headphone amp upgraded
Said to represent the next evolution of RME's all-in-one reference converter concept, the all-new...
05/06/2026
Win a Soundgas Type 636P & Type G preamps
Soundgas, one of the UK's leading vintage and boutique audio equipment specialists have just announced the lau...
05/06/2026
New leadership of Technology Systems Division at Rohde & Schwarz On July 1, 2026, Hansj rg Herrbold and Andreas H gele will take over as Executive Vice Presid...
05/06/2026
Hitachi and Intel announced a strategic collaboration to explore opportunities t...
05/06/2026
MRI-Simmons and S&P Global Mobility are expanding advanced audience capabilities...
05/06/2026
New Nielsen data shows insurance ad spend grew 11%, while consumers remain highl...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
ASG Promotes Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
Appointment to Support Engineering Alignment and Client Experi...
05/06/2026
Stargate Studios Colombia Uses DaVinci Resolve Studio for Vertical Microdramas
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
End to end post in one platform al...
05/06/2026
People Need to Come First When We Use AI
Andy Marken June 5, 2026
0 Comments
It's just surviving. Life's very existence requires destruction....
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...