Six TVE photojournalists who were 'the eye on the news' relive the images that made history

The 24 Horas channel dedicates six installments to legendary cameras: Evaristo Canete, Jesús Mata, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Laureano González, Paco Custodio and José Luis Márquez. An opportunity to see historical images again, thanks to the TVE archive, and discover the lesser-known aspects and the experiences of those who witnessed them firsthand.

The girl Omaira from Colombia, the genocide in Rwanda, the Reagan-Gorbachev summit, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fire of the Sarajevo library, the Tian Anmen massacre... are some of the images from recent history that are already part of the collective memory. Behind them, the professional gaze of the Spanish Television photojournalists.

Canal 24 Horas wants to pay tribute to them in The eye on the news, a six-part program that will approach six of the cameramen who recorded those images every Friday: Evaristo Canete, Jesús Mata, Miguel Ángel Martínez, Laureano González, Paco Custodio and José Luis Márquez.

Witnesses of recent history

The eye on the news, original idea and image of Manuel Ovalle, it is a program that will be broadcast on Fridays on Canal 24 Horas, at 12 midnight (rebroadcast the following Friday on La 2, 2:25 p.m.).

Directed by José Antonio Guardiola and presented by Arantxa Marculeta, also in charge of the script, the space will dedicate its gaze each week to one of the cameramen, to their experiences and anecdotes, their impressions of the historical events that they witnessed firsthand. And, furthermore, it will serve to see again those images that are already part of recent history and that of viewers.

The six chapters of The eye on the news They are dedicated to Evaristo Canete (the girl Omaira from Colombia), Jesús Mata (the Rwandan genocide), Miguel Ángel Martínez (Reagan-Gorbachev Summit), Laureano González (fall of the Berlin Wall), Paco Custodio (Sarajevo library fire) and José Luis Márquez (Tian Anmen massacre, the Sarajevo war, the Intifada...), and are filmed in locations chosen by themselves.

The episodes are filmed in different places chosen by them and each of them will be presented by a colleague from TVE who will help viewers put a face to those photojournalists who help to understand the reality in the world. In addition, other professionals such as Arturo Pérez Reverte or Vicente Romero..., 'battle companions' of the protagonists, will also participate.

Evaristo Canete, protagonist of the first installment

The first installment of The eye on the news will dedicate its gaze to Evaristo Canete, one of the best photojournalists in the history of TVE. Along with him, viewers will be able to see again some of the images recorded throughout his long professional career and that are remembered by everyone. Canete will explain, for example, the recording of the girl Omaira after the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia and also how the war between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda overwhelmed her in 1994.

The head of Audiovisual Documentation of TVE News, Luis López Poliño, will present the figure of Canete in this program in which Antonio Gómez Carrascal, his assistant photojournalist for years, will also participate, who will remember some of the anecdotes experienced with the TVE cameraman.

In addition, Evaristo Canete will talk, from his home in Tietar, about events that he would have liked to cover, such as the rescue of the miners in Chile in 2010, and will also reveal some of his professional tricks: recording with his eyes open.

Considered one of the best photojournalists in our country, Evaristo Canete joined Spanish Television in 1968 as a camera assistant. During his first years on the public network, he worked, among other programs, on El hombre y la tierra or Raíces. Since 1974 he has been a photojournalist at SS.II. from TVE where he has covered wars such as those in Rwanda, Afghanistan or Iraq; the natural disaster of the Prestige oil spill or numerous cycling tours. Canete, who has also been a correspondent for TVE in Bogotá, has been awarded several times for the images he captured in 1985 of the agony of the girl Omaira Sánchez and is also the Cirilo Rodríguez Prize for Journalism.

Keep an eye on the news on RTVE.ES

The Canal 24 Horas program can also be followed on RTVE.ES. Users will not only be able to watch the full videos again but will also have access to extra content: texts from the protagonists and the team, photo galleries, digital meetings and a selection of some of their most notable works.

Furthermore, in www.rtve.es/elojoenlanoticia The protagonists will answer the viewers' questions on the Monday after the premiere of each episode. Next Monday the 30th Evaristo Canete will participate in a digital meeting.