Born in Barcelona in 1945, Calaf has an undergraduate degree in Law and Journalism, a Master’s Degree in European Institutions from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.
During her 37 years as a journalist, most of which she spent as a correspondent for TVE, Calaf has set the professional standard for communicators of the future, while her articles have become great examples for future generations of journalists. Her attitude towards her work and profession provide a master class in how to be a sincere, reliable and responsible reporter, and how to create serious, high-quality journalism that is committed to people and the truth; in other words, journalism that reports what has happened without making a spectacle out of it.
Thanks to this commitment, Calaf has earned the respect of her industry and has been the deserving winner of a multitude of awards throughout her career, including the following:
- 2001 ONDAS Award for Best Professional Work.
- 2001 Special Silver Microphone from the RTVE Professionals’ Association.
- 2001 Journalist of the Year Award from the Catalan Journalists’ Association.
- 2001 Special TV Award from the Spanish Association of Professional Correspondents (APEI).
- 2003 Journalism Award from the Catalan Journalists’ Association.
- 2004 Star Award from the broadcaster Onda Cero.
- 2005 Casa Asia Award for her coverage of the tsunami.
- 2005 Ana Tutor Award.
- Spaniard of the Year Golden Abacus Award, from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, for her coverage of the SARS epidemic.
- 2006 International Press Club Award for Best Work in a Foreign Country.
- 2006 Jaen Etnosur Award for her work to promote diversity.
- 2007 Women Together Award for her professional efforts in fighting for equality.
- 2007 Cirilo Rodríguez Award for Best Correspondence Work and Special Dispatches from Abroad.
- 2007 Club de las 25 Award for her professional achievements.
- 2007 City of Frías Award for her report on An Encounter in Vanuatu.
- 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Spanish Television Academy, in recognition of her long career as a correspondent.
- 2006 International Press Club for Best Work in a Foreign Country.
- 2009 5th José Couso Award for Freedom of the Press.
- National Journalism Award from the Government of Catalonia’s Ministry of Culture and the Arts in recognition of her long and exemplary career as an international reporter at TVE.
- Awarded an honorary degree by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona) in 2008, the Universidad Miguel Hernández (Elche) in 2010 and the Universidad Jaume I (Castellon) in 2014.
A Lifetime Linked to Journalism
Rosa Maria Calaf is a Catalan journalist who has spent most of her professional career at TVE, the Spanish public television broadcaster. She joined the organization in 1970, and has since become its longest-serving and most experienced correspondent. Calaf opened TVE’s press office for the Soviet Union in Moscow and the press office for Eastern Europe and the Balkans in Vienna, as well as restructuring the press office for South America in Buenos Aires. Additionally, she worked as a correspondent for the United States and Canada in New York and for Italy and Vatican City in Rome, while she covered the area stretching from Pakistan to New Zealand from the press office for the Asia Pacific Region.
In 1983 she left TVE temporarily in order to become a founding member of TV3, the Catalan public television broadcaster, where she was the director of programming and production. In 2009, after almost 40 years at the forefront of journalism, Calaf said goodbye to TVE and became the president of the Barcelona International Press Centre.
Nowadays, Calaf dedicates her time to offering the benefit of her almost 40 years of professional experience to others. It is a legacy that she takes great pleasure in bestowing to generations of future journalists and communicators, as she will at the UIC next Friday, 13 June 2014. It will be an honour for us to have her sponsor the graduating class of 2013-2014.
