Rafael Prieto

Background

About Rafael Prieto

Rafael Prieto Zartha is a nationally awarded journalist and cultural activist. Originally from Colombia, he is an American citizen who lived in Charlotte and resided in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Washington. In 2024, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) inducted him into its Hall of Fame. During his forty-four years of journalistic experience in the United States, he worked in print, television, internet, and news agencies. He labored for U.S. Spanish-language media operations across the country, including EFE (Leading Spanish-language news wire and fourth largest in the world), Univision, CBS Tele Noticias, ECO-Televisa, Telemundo, Canal de Noticias NBC, Nuestro Tiempo (LA Times bilingual publication), Noticias del Mundo and La Opinión, the largest U.S. Spanish-language newspaper. He led the newspapers Mi Gente and Que Pasa Mi Gente in North Carolina. From 2010 to 2013, he wrote a weekly opinion column published nationally on immigration and other issues relevant to the Hispanic community. Mr. Prieto won the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) first-place award for print commentary in 2007, an honor attained by writers from The New York Times, The Miami Herald, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Detroit News. He earned in 2012 the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP) José Martí Golden Award for best political article. Under his leadership, Qué Pasa-Mi Gente won the José Martí Golden Award as the best U.S. Spanish-language weekly in 2013. In 2011. he was honored with the Justice Seeker Award by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee. The Charlotte Observer selected him as a "Seven to Watch in 2008." In 2017, he received the Latino Diamante Award, a North Carolina statewide honor for Hispanic leaders. Telemundo Charlotte featured him in 2019 in its "Stories that Inspire" for Hispanic Heritage Month. He received the ArtSí Cultural Community Achievement Award, Con A de Arte 2020. The alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve presented Mr. Prieto in the 2021 Charloteanos Series. The documentary "Latinx during the Pandemic" featured him in 2022. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles selected Mr. Prieto for the Richard Vinroot International Achievement Award 2022. In 2023, Axios Charlotte selected him as one of ten Hispanic People Making History in the City. Mr. Prieto is one of the founding members of the NAHJ, president of the NAHJ Charlotte Chapter, and vice president of the California Chicano News Media Association (CCNMA). He organized the first U.S. Spanish-Language Media Conference in 1982.