El Nuevo Día reporter Itzel Rivera received the Special Award for Excellence in Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Journalism from the Overseas Press Club for her work with Connecticut Public's Puerto Rican reporting collaboration.
The Overseas Press Club Excellence Awards in Puerto Rico are national honors that celebrate the best journalistic work in print, multimedia, radio, and television.
Rivera's award-winning coverage is part of CT Public's Puerto Rican reporting collaboration with GFR Media, which publishes El Nuevo Día. With Rivera based in Puerto Rico and another dedicated reporter at CT Public in Connecticut, the goal is to share nuanced stories across the diaspora, to help understand the connection between the state and the island.
The collaboration is part of CT Public's Latino Initiative called, Somos Connecticut, which aims to uplift and elevate Latino stories, experiences, and voices in the state.
Since the partnership started in 2025, Rivera has reported on a range of stories with former CT Public Puerto Rican Communities Reporter Rachel Iacovone, in both English and Spanish, including:
- Meet the Puerto Rican dance organization keeping Bomba alive in Connecticut
- Yale’s Bad Bunny course is here to stay
- This New Britain art exhibit is a call to decolonize Puerto Rico
El Nuevo Día senior editor Esteban Pagán Rivera said the paper is proud of this award and Itzel's tenacious reporting.
"This is a testament for her devotion and hard work for the Connecticut and diaspora beat," he said. "Itzel’s journalism has accomplished what we set out to in this partnership: amplify the diaspora’s voice in the US and Puerto Rico, and share stories that deserve to be told. And we are so thrilled that her work has national recognition in Puerto Rico."
The Puerto Rican reporting partnership between CT Public and GFR Media is funded by the Knight Foundation.
There were several other winners from GFR Media's El Nuevo Día, the island's largest newspaper. Two others received special awards, including reporter Adriana Díaz Tirado received the Special Award for Excellence in Health Journalism, and Manuel Guillama Capella received the Special Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism.
