Elaíze Farias

Elaíze Farias
In an Oxfam video in 2023
EducationFederal University of Amazonas
OccupationJournalist
AwardsVladimir Herzog Award (2022)

Elaíze Farias is a Brazilian journalist. She is known for her reporting on indigenous and environmental issues in the North Region of Brazil.

Biography

Farias was born and raised in Parintins, Amazonas. Her maternal family is Mawé.[1][2] She moved to Manaus, the state capital, at the age of 17, and studied journalism at the Federal University of Amazonas.[3][4]

While Farias was still a student, she started her journalism career, initially as a culture reporter for various local news outlets in Manaus. In 2003, she decided to focus on social issues, with her early articles reporting on citizens in Manaus' struggles accessing water and electricity.[1] Farias' work was published in local, national and international newspapers, including A Crítica, Diário do Amazonas, Jornal GGN, El País and Americas Quarterly.[3][4]

Farias felt that media outlets were not interested in indigenous and environmental issues and that they were focused on issues in the Southeast Region.[3] In October 2013, she co-founded Amazônia Real, an indigenous-run media outlet based in Manaus, alongside Katia Brásil and Liege Albuquerque. Farias described Amazônia Real's philosophy as being based on postcolonial journalism, countering what she considered to be mainstream Brazilian media's "monolithic" and "exoticised" presentation of indigenous communities in the country.[1][2][5]

In 2017, Amazônia Real was named as one of Latin America's top 100 digital news startups by SembriaMedia. In 2018, it was awarded the King of Spain International Journalism Award for the Most Outstanding Outlet in Ibero-America.[2]

In 2021, Farias was honoured, alongside Brásil, at the 16th International Congress of Investigative Journalism, organised by the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI).[6] In 2025, to mark the 20th anniversary of ABRAJI's first conference, Farias and Brásil were recognised as two of 21 "icons of Brazilian journalism"; they were among three journalists commemorated from the North Region, alongside Lúcio Flávio Pinto, who also wrote for Amazônia Real.[7]

In 2022, Farias received the Vladimir Herzog Award in recognition of her work reporting on human rights in Brazil.[6]

In 2023, Farias received a Global Human Rights Defender Award from the United States Department of State in recognition of Amazônia Real's reporting, including on the murders of Dom Philips and Bruno Pereira in the Amazon rainforest.[8][9]

Farias has also been awarded the Embratel Press Prize, the Onça-Pintada Prize for Journalism and the Fapeam Prize for Scientific Journalism.[4]

In 2013, a short film entitled Amazon Attack and directed by Elizabeth Rocha Salgado focusing on Farias' activism for the protection of the Amazon.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Godin, Mélissa (6 February 2023). "'A different perspective': the journalist reporting the Amazon through fresh eyes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 April 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Opondo, Angela (20 October 2023). "Elaíze Farias: Championing Indigenous Voices Through Journalism". Qazini. Archived from the original on 22 July 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Rodrigues, Paula; di Giacomo, Fred (28 June 2021). "Amazônia Real: Elaíze Farias vai direto ao ponto: "Não se deixa de ser indígena por usar celular. É estratégia de combate"". ECOA (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Elaíze Farias". Rainforest Journalism Fund. Archived from the original on 20 January 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  5. ^ Altman, MJ (7 March 2023). "Meet 3 Women in Brazil Who Are Protecting the Amazon Rainforest — and Indigenous Rights". United Nations Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 July 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Elaíze Farias". Amazônia Real (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 14 July 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Abraji homenageará 21 ícones do jornalismo brasileiro". Amazônia Real (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 July 2025. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  8. ^ "Elaíze Farias, da Amazônia Real, recebe prêmio de direitos humanos internacional". Amazônia Real (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2 February 2023. Archived from the original on 24 July 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Annual Global Human Rights Defender Award Recipients Announced". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Amazon Attack". Short Film Wire. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
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