The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) today announced Patricia Mercado Sánchez, founder and CEO of Conexión Migrante, as the recipient of its 2026 ICFJ News Innovation Award. Mercado Sánchez leads a small team of journalists that has grown Conexión Migrante into a trusted, multi-platform lifeline for Latin American migrants in the U.S.
Fact checkers from Mexico and Ecuador and a media founder from El Salvador are ICFJ’s newest Douglas Tweedale Memorial fellows.
Over two years, the Center, a project of the Knight International Journalism Fellowship program, offered 15 online training courses in Spanish to some 500 journalists from 22 countries as well as in-person technical training to more than 200 of the best performers. On a Saturday in December, the 15th class to pass through the Digital Journalism Center in Guadalajara, Mexico, had its recognition ceremony.
