Tomás Ocaña

Tomás Ocaña Urwitz (born 20 January 1984) is a Spanish investigative journalist^[1] known for his work in international investigations, including the Panama Papers and Swiss Leaks. Ocaña has contributed to major global news reports concerning issues like corruption, drug trafficking, labor exploitation, fraud, gun trafficking, and environmental destruction. He has been honored with a Peabody Award and three Emmy Awards.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ocaña and the second or maternal family name is Urwitz.

Tomás Ocaña
Born	(1984-01-20) January 20, 1984 (age 41) Madrid, Spain
Occupation	Journalist
Website	http://www.tomasocana.com/

Career

Ocaña holds degrees in Law and Journalism from Carlos III University of Madrid. He began his career in journalism at CNN+ and Cuatro before becoming the executive producer of El Telediario de Intereconomía. In January 2012, Ocaña joined the newly formed Documentaries department at Univision, where he worked on several significant investigative projects. His first major production, PRESSured, co-directed with Mariana Atencio, focused on press freedom in Latin America. The documentary received the Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media^[2] in 2014.

Ocaña later became a news reporter and producer at Univision Investiga, the investigative branch of the network, under the leadership of journalist Gerardo Reyes. Between 2012 and 2016,^[3] he contributed to reports from various countries, including Spain, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Germany.

One of his notable reports covered the Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán; Ocaña's investigation into his drug empire aired in a special report titled "El Chapo Guzmán, the eternal fugitive" (2014). The report, broadcast before Guzmán’s 2015 escape and subsequent 2016 recapture, earned an Emmy Award for Best Investigative Journalism in Spanish. Ocaña was also a finalist for the Livingston Awards, which recognize journalists under 35.

Another high-profile investigation was "Fast and Furious: Arming the Enemy", a report tracking firearms from a controversial operation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The report won the Peabody Award and the IRE Award (Investigative Reporters and Editors) for investigative journalism. It was also referenced by the U.S. Congress in its investigation into the operation.

In "Los nuevos Narcotesoros", Univision Investiga explored the criminal activities undertaken by drug cartels to identify their sources of income. These activities included the smuggling of undocumented immigrants, forced prostitution, kidnapping, extortion, theft of fuel, and illicit mining of minerals like gold and iron. The investigation found that mining was the most profitable of all the cartels' activities. For the second consecutive year, Univision Investiga won the Emmy Award for best investigative journalism in Spanish. The multimedia version of this project won the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award.

Ocaña and the Univision Investiga team also received an Emmy Award as part of the Univision News team that covered the murder of 43 Mexican students in Iguala. Their coverage was awarded in the Outstanding Coverage of a breaking news story in Spanish category.

In 2016, the report "Tall Tale" won the National Journalism Award in Mexico for uncovering the political and business intricacies of the largest cash seizure in world history: US$205 million. The work was conducted by Univision Investiga and the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley. This joint project was nominated in the 37th edition of the Emmy Awards, where Tomás received two additional nominations.

In addition, Ocaña directed Lucía en la telaraña, a documentary produced for RTVE.^[4]

Awards

• Peabody Award for "Fast and Furious, arming the enemy" (2013)
• Investigative Reporters & Editors Award for "Fast and Furious, arming the enemy" (2013)
• Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism in Spanish for "El Chapo, the eternal fugitive" (2014)
• Nominated for the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists (2014)
• Co-director of the documentary PRESSured, Gracie Award for the best documentary (2014)
• Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism in Spanish for "Los Nuevos Narcotesoros" (2015)
• Part of the team awarded with the Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award in the multimedia category for "Los Nuevos Narcotesoros" (2015)
• Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in Spanish for "La Masacre de Iguala" (2015)
• National Journalism Award of Mexico in the category Research Report on TV for "A tall tale" (2016)