The Emmy Awards recognizes the best shows and television professionals in the US, and this year there was a Basque among the awardees. “Eskerrik asko danori,” is how long time American resident Basque-Venezuelan journalist, Ricardo Arambarri, finished his thank you speech after winning the Emmy for the Outstanding Investigative Journalism in Spanish 2016, for “Desamparados desechables,” broadcast on Univision. “This award is the highest in my profession,” Arambarri told EuskalKultura.com, whose parents are from Gernika, “I had to finish my speech in my mother tongue.”
Bego Miñaur/Donostia-San Sebastian. The Basque-Venezuelan journalist, Ricardo Arambarri was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism in Spanish for “Desamparados desechables,” broadcast on Univision. Even if journalistic awards have less media impact that those in the entertainment sector, it is the highest professional recognition that a TV journalist in the US could aspire to.
“I competed against very good rivals, and I didn’t think I would win, but just in case, I had written a speech. When I got on stage it totally left me, and so I simply said what I felt,” Arambarri told EuskalKultura.com. “Of course I had to end my thank you speech in my mother tongue, thanking everyone.”
The website Sustatu published his speech online. He dedicates the award to his wife in French, his colleagues in Spanish and then ends in Basque with an enthusiastic “Eskerrik Asko Danori."
Arambarri is a Basque-Venezuelan who has lived for many years in Miami where he works for Univision. His parents are from Gernika, and he speaks Basque fluently. “When I was little in Gernika, I was forbidden to speak Basque, and so we only used it at home,” he says. “It is the language I learned as a child, even though I hardly use it today, only when I visit my parents in Gernika. This year I have been twice. My parents are 86 years old.”
When he received the award, his brother Patxi was in Gernika, visiting their parents. “When Avelina Aurrekoetxea and Francisco Arambarri saw the video of my speech, what was the most important was my thank you in Basque. My mother didn’t even ask me about the report. I suppose that, in some way, I made them proud,” he said.
“Many of my colleagues have written to ask what I said. And with a lot of patience, I have explained it to them. Others, that know me well, knew that it had to be something in Basque because I have always identified myself as Basque. And those who were the closest knew exactly what it meant.”
“To tell you the truth, it isn’t anything extraordinary. Just saying thank you in Basque. But for me it was the right time and the right place: to show my pride in my roots, when receiving the highest award in my profession,” he concluded.
Zorionak Ricardo, and Eskerrik Asko for making Basque heard at the Emmys!
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