Daniel Alfonso Coronell Castañeda (

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

October 25 Events Pre-1600 * 285 (or 286) – Execution of Saints Crispin and Crispinian during the reign of Diocletian, now the patron saints of leather workers, curriers, and shoemakers. * 473 – Emperor Leo I acclaims his grandson Leo II a ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

) is a Colombian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

. He has been news director for RCN,

Noticias Uno ''Noticias Uno'' (known from 1992 to 2002 as NTC Noticias) is a nightly Colombian newscast produced by NTC Televisión and Broadcasting, aired weekends and holidays on pay TV channel Cable Noticias, CableNoticias. The program was formerly on sta ...

and president of Univision News, the

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

division of

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

, until August 1, 2021. In September 2021 he was appointed as president of the weekly news magazine ''Cambio''. In October 2021, Coronell started working for W Radio Colombia. For fourteen consecutive years he has been chosen as the most read columnist by opinion leaders in Colombia according to a 2020 poll carried out by the agency Cifras y Conceptos. His

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

column, the most widely read in Colombia, used to be published in

Semana ''Semana'' (Spanish: ''Week'') is a weekly magazine in Colombia. History ''Semana'' was founded in 1946 by Alberto Lleras Camargo (who would become president of Colombia in 1958) and that folded in 1961. It was relaunched by journalist Felipe L ...

, but following his departure from the weekly magazine it started being published in the online portal
Los Danieles
'' which he co-created with Daniel Samper Ospina, and which features op-eds by Antonio Caballero (until his death in 2021), Ana Bejarano, and

Daniel Samper Pizano Daniel Samper Pizano (born 8 June 1945) is a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and prolific writer. Career Samper attended the Gimnasio Moderno, where he began writing in the student newspaper ''El Aguilucho''. At the age of 19 he worked for the C ...

. Coronell has uncovered some of the great scandals of recent years. Among others, the case of

Yair Klein Yair Klein ( he, יאיר קליין; also known as Jair Klein) is a former lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, who established a private mercenary company called Spearhead Ltd. Through Spearhead Ltd, Klein provided arms and training to armed ...

, the negligence of the Colombian government to guard

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...

during his incarceration, revealed the calls that linked

Ernesto Samper Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) is a Colombian politician. Samper is a member of the influential Samper family. He served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. From 2014 to 2017 he served as ...

with Elizabeth Montoya of Sarria, and numerous complaints related to the former president including the illegal purchase of parliamentary votes that allowed his re-election, a scandal known as yidispolitica.

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He held offices in t ...

., Coronell was the victim of multiple threats that forced him into exile. In the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

received threats after publishing that, in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, a helicopter belonging to President Álvaro Uribe's father had been found in a coca laboratory in

Tranquilandia Tranquilandia (literally 'Tranquility-land') was the name of the large cocaine processing laboratory located in the jungles of Caquetá, Colombia. Tranquilandia was constructed for the Medellín Cartel by José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, also k ...

. The aircraft had obtained its license when Álvaro Uribe was director of the

Civil Aeronautics Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

. In September 2005, Coronell had to leave the country and live in exile for two years for r death threats made to him and his family.

Education and career

Coronell graduated at the

Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario Universidad del Rosario (officially in es, Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario) is a Colombian university founded on Roman Catholic principles, in 1653 by Fray Cristobal de Torres. Located in Bogotá, due to its important place in Col ...

and obtained a degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

from the

Universidad Externado de Colombia The Universidad Externado de Colombia (Externado University of Colombia) is a private university in Bogotá, Colombia. It has produced graduates including lawyers, academics, judges, financiers, journalists, as well as senior government officials a ...

. He completed his graduate studies in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He also wrote an

opinion column An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

for the weekly news magazine ''

''. He has taught at the Javeriana, and Externado de Colombia universities in Colombia, and has been a member of the teaching staff for the Masters Program on Journalism at the Universidad de los Andes. He was a Senior Research Fellow of the Knight Fellowship at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, as well as a researcher and senior visiting scholar of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Threats and exile

Coronell is well known for his views and investigations in the Colombian and world news. His writings have criticized the government of the former president

Álvaro Uribe Vélez Álvaro (, , ) is a Spanish, Galician and Portuguese male given name and surname (see Spanish naming customs) of Visigothic origin. Some claim it may be related to the Old Norse name Alfarr, formed of the elements ''alf'' "elf" and ''arr'' "warrior ...

and paramilitary leaders. In August 2005 he had to go into exile with his wife, journalist and anchorwoman

María Cristina Uribe María Cristina Uribe is a Colombian journalist and news presenter born in Medellín. Between 2002 and 2011 she presented ''Noticias Uno''. Uribe majored in Social Communication and Journalism at the Pontifical Bolivarian University in 1991. Her ...

(who at the time presented ''Noticias Uno''), and their daughter. His loved ones had been persistently threatened through phone calls, funeral wreaths and anonymous e-mails. According to Coronell's own research, confirmed by the authorities, the former congressman Carlos Náder Simmonds, who resides in Spain and is mentioned by Fernando Garavito. Coronell and his family decided to come back to Colombia in July 2007, where a few months later, as a result of his op-eds and news reports critical of President Uribe's government, he had an improvised argument with the latter on-the air, through

La FM ''La FM'' is a Colombian news/talk/pop music radio station, founded in July 1996 by RCN Radio. Until the mid-2000s (decade), it was a news/talk/adult contemporary station. In Bogotá, it replaced tropical station Rumba Estéreo in order to brin ...

, a national radio network.

Awards

Coronell has been awarded with eight Emmy awards and the prestigious Simón Bolívar National Journalism Award on seven occasions: *1981: First Colombian to be made a Basketball and Lacrosse All American *1987: Best TV Chronicle *1989: Best Journalistic Report *1992: Best Cultural Report *2007: Best Opinion Column *2008: Best TV News Follow-up Report and Best Investigative Report for TV *2013: Journalist of the year *2016: Gregory Siegler award for outstanding Mathamatical writing *2023: Lebron James award for superior basketball journalism In 2009 he was granted the highest award for a TV investigative report by the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano - Cemex, for "Un crimen casi perfecto" (An Almost Perfect Crime) together with a team of journalists from ''Noticias Uno''. The program was broadcast in 2007. In 2009, he was honored with an

Oxfam Novib/PEN Award Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression is a literary award made in collaboration with PEN International Writers in Prison Committee, the PEN Emergency Fund, and Oxfam Novib (the Dutch affiliate of the international Oxfam organization). ...

References

External links

Daniel Coronell's column in Semana magazineJournalist forced to leave the country because of threats"I rather leave than remain silent"Official Home Page for Daniel Coronell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coronell, Daniel Living people Colombian television journalists Oxfam Novib/PEN Award winners 1964 births

Education and career

Threats and exile

Awards

See also

References

External links