Inside AFP
AFP photographer honored by Honduran Congress
Honduras' Congress presented AFP photojournalist Orlando Sierra with its "Photographer of the Year" award Thursday for his outstanding images in a year marked by deadly protests in the Central American state.
Congress President Mauricio Oliva said Sierra was being honored because "with his fine talent for photography, he records the great moments in our history and portrays the different angles of reality."
A special sitting of the 128-seat Congress presented the annual Parliamentary Awards to 12 media professionals.
Accepting his award, 52-year-old Sierra said "the best news isn't always the one you tell first, but very often it's the one you tell best. I learned that at Agence France-Press where I've been working for 25 years."
Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.
The ceremony began with a minute's silence for 71 journalists and media professionals killed in the country since 2003. More than 90 percent of the cases remain unresolved.
More recently, at least 22 people died in widespread protests following the controversial re-election in November of President Juan Orlando Hernandez, according to the UN.
A graduate in journalism from the National Autonomous University of Honduras, Sierra has worked as a photo-journalist at AFP since 1992.
He also spent 16 years at La Tribuna newspaper and has also worked for the Televisa channel.
