José Hamilton Ribeiro

José Hamilton Ribeiro is a Brazilian journalist and author. He has worked as a reporter and editor for the magazines Realidade and Quatro Rodas, the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, and the programs Globo Repórter, Fantástico, and Globo Rural, and is the author of fifteen books. In December 2012, a study by the news bulletin Jornalistas & Cia concluded that Ribeiro, as measured by the number and importance of prizes won, is the most decorated journalist in Brazilian history.

Early life and education

Ribeiro's father was a small farmer and his mother a housewife. He studied in a public school, where he was editor of the student newspaper. In 1955 Ribeiro went to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Cásper Líbero School of Journalism. He was expelled from the school during his last year because of a strike that he had led.

Journalism

Ribeiro began his career in journalism in 1955 at Radio Bandeirantes in São Paulo, where he worked the night shift and spent significant time accompanying leading caipira musicians. Soon afterwards he went to work in print journalism, becoming a cub reporter for O Tempo in 1955 and a staffer for the Folha de S.Paulo in June 1956. In 1957, he covered the first Mass held in Brasilia. He reacted to this incident with equanimity, telling a reporter at Qui Nhon that as soon as he had been able to sit up in bed he had begun writing his story. A photograph of him after the accident appeared on the cover of Realidade.

Among the stories Ribeiro went on to cover after his accident was the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. He lamented that “almost 70% of the adult population in Brazil can not understand ten lines of text” and that Brazilian universities, which given the country's population should be represented among the world's top ten, are not even in the top hundred. “In a country so backward and so needy,” he said, “to be opposed to journalism school, any school, is cynicism or malice.”

Prêmio Embratel de Jornalismo, for Música Caipira (2004) (Category: Cultural Journalism) Prêmio Brasileiro Imortal (2008) (National Category)

Honors

José Hamilton Ribeiro Journalism Prize

The José Hamilton Ribeiro Journalism Prize, named after him, honors the best reporting in the Portuguese language, was first awarded in September 2011. It is presented by the Rio Preto Regional Union of Journalists and the Secretaria Municipal de Cultura, with support from the Union of Professional Journalists in the State of São Paulo and the Federation of Portuguese-Speaking Journalists.